Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
R. Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth24 August 1948
has-beens
Everything has been something before.
emotional stories want
When we love others, we naturally want to talk about them, we want to show them off, like emotional trophies. We invest them with a power to do to others what they do to us; a vain hope, as the lovers of others are rarely of much interest to us. But we listen in patience, as friends must, and as Isabel now did, refraining from comment, other than to encourage the release of the story and the attendant confession of human frailty and hope.
might mystery homecoming
Each of us is born into our own mysteries...but the mystery of another might just take us in and embrace us. And then what a sense of homecoming, of belonging!
important may sometimes
Small things may be important to us; to be a sometime anything is sometimes something.
thinking forever littles
We think the world is ours forever, but we are little more than squatters.
opposites way philosopher
And that, in a way, was the burden of being a philosopher: one knew what one had to do, but it was so often the opposite of what one really wanted to do.
mind possibility come-up
Our minds can come up with the most entertaining possibilities, if we let them. But most of the time, we keep them under far too close a check.
people advice would-be
It would be wonderful to have a guru; it would be like having a social worker or a personal trainer, not that people who had either of these necessarily appreciated the advice they received.
eye essence world
It was the same with friendship. Disagreement between friends and spouses, too had to be carefully handled. If the time you spent with friends was consumed by disagreement, then there was no room for the essence of friendship, which was a sharing of the world. And that sharing involved seeing things the same way, or at least seeing things through the eyes of the friend.
white car tiny
I cannot see myself in a new car. I am a tiny white van person. That is what i want!
block building manners
Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society.
mother nice father
My parents were very supportive and always encouraged us. My father was a gentle, nice man. My mother was quite a colorful character and a keen reader who encouraged me to write.
thinking views political
As a writer, I have readers who will have a range of political views. I don't think they look to me for political guidance.
idle capable
I am capable of being idle.