A Promise of Ankles (44 Scotland Street, #14)

by Alexander McCall Smith

“It’s very odd being proselytised, Matthew, don’t you think? The basic assumption of the missionary is that what you – the other person – believes is somehow inferior.”

Modern technology ruins everything: our sense of the unknown, for example – because there’s no longer any reason for anything to be unknown. If you don’t know something, the internet is a few keystrokes away – and you have your solution. There are no secrets any longer.”

There was always something slightly discomfiting, he thought, about listening to one side of a telephone conversation; one may affect indifference, but one is inevitably drawn into speculation as to what the voice at the other end – the voice one cannot hear – is saying.

“I believe in reforming things that need to be reformed. I believe in social goods. I believe that the most stable and probably the most reasonable position on anything is probably to be found in the centre. I believe in compromise and sharing and making sure that everybody has a chance. I believe that we should listen to one another and accept that those with whom we may disagree have their own view of the good and should be respected. I believe in not insulting those from whom we differ.”