A Conspiracy of Friends Quotes

“Has anyone sen Mr Snark "
"I saw him in the tunnel about 15 minutes ago."
"Oh no " wailed Dr Ferman "he will have been atomised."
"Oh dear" muttered an MP. "Bye-election.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“A dog sees no point in dwelling on things that have happened; the important thing is that they are not happening now. In that respect, they have something to teach us: we so often feel that then is now, and this leads us to prolong the suffering of yesterday into the suffering of today. Dogs do not do that.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“How many of us dig our own graves, thought William. We dig them with vigour and determination, unaware of the implications, but with all the conviction of those who do not really know what they are doing, who are impervious to the dangers that others can see so clearly.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“William’s weekend with his friends, Geoffrey and Maggie, was turning out to be neither restful nor enjoyable. Things could have been worse, of course: there must be weekends during which the hosts’ house burns to the ground, one of the guests murders another, the hostess is arrested in extradition proceedings or the guests are all poisoned by the inclusion of death’s cap mushrooms in the stew. Such weekends must be very difficult indeed, not least because of the wording of the thank-you letters that one would have to write. The disaster, whatever it was, could hardly be ignored, but must be referred to tactfully in the letter, and always set in proper perspective. Thus, in the case of the mushroom poisoning, one would comment on how the other courses of the meal were delicious; in the case of the hostess’s arrest, one would say something comforting about the ability of defence lawyers in the jurisdiction to which she was being extradited—and so on, mutatis mutandis, trying at all times to be as positive as possible.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“She wouldn't disapprove of people who gave up philosophy or literary theory to do ordinary things." "Maybe not," mused Maggie. "If we eat pies, then we should never, not for one moment, look down on the making of them.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“A dog sees no point in dwelling on things that have happened; the important thing is that they are not happening now. In that respect, they have something to teach us: we so often feel that then is now, and this leads us to prolong the suffering of yesterday into the suffering of today. Dogs do not do that. With”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“the human world, he reflected, was divided into little clusters of people—tiny tribes, small groups of friends, families—and if you belonged to only a few of these, then your life was circumscribed.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“Maybe not,” mused Maggie. “If we eat pies, then we should never, not for one moment, look down on the making of them.” “I don’t,” said William.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“suddenly realised that if he felt that he had achieved nothing it was because he had failed to cherish what he had in fact done. He had filled his days doing ordinary, unexceptional things and thought nothing of them. But they were far from nothing:”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“By comparison with such lives, our days were inconsequential indeed, and yet even though our canvas was small, still we could paint a masterpiece—as long as we were content for it to be a miniature.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“A moral dilemma is equally absorbing whether the stakes are the destiny of nations or the happiness of one or two people - at the most.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“...wrong to think the less of another for what he or she was. There was no moral obligation to like others, nor necessarily to enthuse over them, but we did have to recognize their equal worth.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“They realized that belief of whatever sort-whether it was the faith in History and the State, as in the shattered halls of communism, or faith in a particular theology-at least made it possible to get through the day. And if one felt better in the belief that one's life made sense in these terms, then what was wrong with that? Was it weakness to allow oneself the pleasure of thinking that one counted in some way? And did this engagement not result, on balance, in greater human happiness? No, said the atheists, it did not. And yet where, William wondered, were the great works of those who believed in nothing at all? We had to believe, he thought, whether it was in some power beyond us, or in love, or art, or beauty. The need to believe was always there, and it would find expression, even if it attached itself to something paltry and shallow such as celebrity culture. And for many millions that was where their spiritual energy went-into a fascination with fashion and the lives of narcissistic entertainers. Viewed in this light, he considered Hello! magazine was a religious tract, a work of theology.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends

“It was all very well occupying the moral high ground on electoral reform, but what really mattered, she thought, was how you treated your mother.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Conspiracy of Friends