I used to have a great love for Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, the big boys of the last century.

Quote by Norman MacCaig

Topics: Norman MacCaig Quotes

I don't care whether a book is a first edition or not. I'm not a...

I don't care whether a book is a first edition or not. I'm not a...

A terrible thing about getting oldish is that your friends start dying, and in the...

A terrible thing about getting oldish is that your friends start dying, and in the...

Well, I love fishing. I wouldn't kill a fly myself but I've no hesitation in...

Well, I love fishing. I wouldn't kill a fly myself but I've no hesitation in...

When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't...

When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't...

And it's impossible for me to read Henry James.

And it's impossible for me to read Henry James.

If I wrote a play with four characters every single one of them would talk...

If I wrote a play with four characters every single one of them would talk...

But I hang on to books. I love them. I even think they're very nice...

But I hang on to books. I love them. I even think they're very nice...

All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry...

All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry...

I find it's impossible for me to read Proust.

I find it's impossible for me to read Proust.

And some poets are far better read off the page because they're very bad speakers....

And some poets are far better read off the page because they're very bad speakers....

Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood.

Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood.

I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of...

I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of...

And if they haven't got poetry in them, there's nothing you can do that will...

And if they haven't got poetry in them, there's nothing you can do that will...

And in a way, that's been a help to me, because I take great passions...

And in a way, that's been a help to me, because I take great passions...

I don't think of myself all the time.

I don't think of myself all the time.

All I write about is what's happened to me and to people I know, and...

All I write about is what's happened to me and to people I know, and...

I never think about poetry except when I'm writing it. I mean my poetry.

I never think about poetry except when I'm writing it. I mean my poetry.

When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as...

When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as...

However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry...

However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry...

When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of...

When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of...