Right from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to write palpably Scottish fiction.

A good album should be more than the sum of its parts.

Rebus was eating breakfast in the canteen and wishing there was more caffeine in the coffee, or more coffee in the coffee come to that.

You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.

At all times, think like a writer, and keep those antennae twitching - that way, you pick up new ideas.

I still think most writers are just kids who refuse to grow up. We're still playing imaginary games, with our imaginary friends.

No matter how many awards you've won or how many sales you've got, come the next book it's still a blank sheet of paper and you're still panicking like hell that you've got nothing new to say.

It was the laughter of birthdays, of money found in an old pocket.

[About a tiresome colleague]: He could bore for Scotland.

War created bizarre allies, while peace itself could be divisive.

I don't have many friends. It's not because I'm a misanthrope. It's because I'm reserved. I'm self-contained. I get all my adventures in my head when I'm writing my books.

Every book is worth reading. If it cannot make you wiser it will make you a critic

But the economy's out of control. Money just doesn't need human beings anymore. Most of us only get in the way.

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.

I'm in favor of changing the destination of humans. There are a lot of manned missions that can be done, but not in the direction of the moon.

I like to tell myself that truth is in the irregularity and the unexpected, and I try to look for both.

I found draft resistors very conscientious, reasonable, and not fanatics.

Sport is about achievements. Art is to be touch and touch others in a personal level.

Thousands die each year because they are uninsured or under-insured.

When you break into song, it's not about dialogue, it's not about how you would speak in a naturalistic sense-it's about expressing your inner torment or your inner joy.