A Distant View of Everything Quotes

“He smiled as he imagined the composite Jamie/Isabel, who would play the bassoon, read philosophy, interfere in other people's affairs rather too much, drive a green Swedish car and make legendary potatoes Dauphinoise.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“how we know what we think we know.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Isabel’s private theory of moral proximity, the basis of those obligations that came into existence when we found ourselves close enough to others to be able to witness or feel their needs, or when we were in some other way linked to their plight. We could not deal with all the suffering or need in the world, but we could—and should—deal with that sliver of suffering that was reasonably close to us. We could not ignore the needs of our immediate neighbour, with whom we would obviously be in moral proximity; when it came to the needs of people whose identity we did not know, with whom we had no dealings and whom we did not actually see, then any moral obligation to them would be harder to justify—other, of course, than a general duty not to harm them.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“The eyes are the window of the soul…it was such a well-worn adage, a cliché by now, but Isabel had read that neuroscience, which was validating so many intuitive, ancient beliefs about who we were and how we lived our lives, now confirmed this insight too. The part of the brain that was most closely associated with self-awareness, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, lay directly behind the eyes. So that was where we were located—that was where the soul was to be found, if it were to be found anywhere.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Preserve’ is an entirely suitable motto for a jam-making company,” said one. “Marmalade and so on—I’m not so sure it’s quite right for a firm of lawyers.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“What I said to you was private. We can have private reservations about a person’s work, but that doesn’t mean to say that we have to spell those out to him. It’s called tact, Isabel!”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Because laughs never die away entirely,” said Jamie. “At least, if you believe in Marconi.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Isabel’s private theory of moral proximity, the basis of those obligations that came into existence when we found ourselves close enough to others to be able to witness or feel their needs, or when we were in some other way linked to their plight. We could not deal with all the suffering or need in the world, but we could—and should—deal with that sliver of suffering that was reasonably close to us.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“I’m glad you came,” said Rob. “I like having lunch. I find it a much more sociable meal than dinner.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“The trouble with having a conscience, she said to herself, is that it never sleeps.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Animals, like people, did not ask to be who or what they were, and to make life difficult for others simply for being what they were seemed to her to be fundamentally unkind.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Like so many women, her life seemed to be all about the needs of others. Auden had said something about that, she reminded herself—something witty. We are here on this earth to help others, but he had no idea why the others were here.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“She said that too.” His voice was low key and modest. The accent, which was not very pronounced, had the gentle burr of the Scottish professional classes. This was an accent that would score highly in those tests of reliability that newspapers liked to carry out—those surveys that tended to reveal that a mild Scottish accent in a bank manager or financial adviser inspired more public trust than any other voice. By the same token, although the surveys were never so tactless as to point it out, people were reluctant to take investment recommendations from a person with a very strong Irish accent. There was no objective reason for this, of course, even if Ireland had created a property bubble of gargantuan proportions in the days of easily borrowed money. These views were tied in with old perceptions, and were slow to change, even in the face of hard evidence.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“There’s a poem about onions,” she said. “It’s about how memory is like an onion—it makes you cry.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“And where does religion come into it? Are Protestant countries inherently less corrupt?” “No,” she said. “I don’t think it’s that simple. The issue, I suppose, is whether a culture stresses telling the truth. That’s the real point. It’s not religion.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“She was thinking of Mobile, where her mother—her “sainted American mother,” as she called her—had spent her childhood. That was a place of shady streets; of moss that hung from the boughs of trees, as if draped there for adornment by some enthusiastic exterior decorator; of sultry, velvet evenings. Things moved slowly in Mobile, as they did, traditionally, throughout the South. And why should they not? If you walked quickly, then all you did was to reach your destination early; nothing had been gained. And if you spoke quickly, you got more words out, but were those words any better for that?”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“We become the people we live with. Imperceptibly at first, but with a certain inevitability, we become the other.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“We assume so much, don’t we? We assume that our children are going to be reasonable. We assume they’re going to see things as we see them. And then suddenly we discover that they can look at things quite differently.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“Waiting in the reception area, she had flicked through a news magazine that had been lying on the table for clients to read while waiting for their appointment. On the cover there had been a picture of a well-known politician, a man famous for his rudeness and aggression. She had looked at the eyes--the piercing, accusing eyes, and had seen only an impenetrable, defensive anger. Nothing--no forced smiles nor rehearsed protestation of concern, could cancel out the cold selfishness of those eyes.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“He evidently did not care that they were in full view of a cluster of dog-owners walking their dogs. He stopped and took her in his arms, kissing her passionately and urgently.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything

“. . . there was something that Isabel had said that always stuck in his mind. Remember what you have and the other person doesn't. It was simple--almost too simple--advice and yet, like all such home advice, it expressed a profound truth.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, A Distant View of Everything