Hugh MacDiarmid quotes

“It is time we in Scotland put England in its proper place and instead of our leaning on England and taking inspiration from her, we should lean and turn to Europe, for it is there our future prosperity lies.”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

#Lying Quotes #Inspiration Quotes #Europe Quotes

“Football fanaticism and high intellect seldom go together.”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

#Football Quotes #Together Quotes #Intellect Quotes

“The number of people who can copulate properly may be few; the number who can write well are infinitely fewer.”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

Source : 1928 Review of D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover in The New Age, 27 Sep. This may very well have been the first published review of Lawrence's novel.

#Writing Quotes #Numbers Quotes #People Quotes

“Our principal writers have nearly all been fortunate in escaping regular education.”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

#Escaping Quotes #Bedtime Quotes #Principal Quotes

“There are plenty of ruined buildings in the world but no ruined stones.”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

Source : Hugh MacDiarmid, Alan Riach, Michael Grieve (1993). “Selected Poetry”, p.148, New Directions Publishing

#World Quotes #Stones Quotes #Building Quotes

“Scotland small? Our multiform, infinite Scotland SMALL?”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

#Scotland Quotes #Infinite Quotes #Scots Quotes

“In spite of all their kind some elements of worth With difficulty persist here and there on earth.”
-- Hugh MacDiarmid

Source : Hugh MacDiarmid (2006). “Hugh MacDiarmid: Selected Poetry”, p.169, New Directions Publishing

#Optimism Quotes #Elements Quotes #Earth Quotes

“I walk up a dune to a beach and look out to sea, but it's 100km away. The ships lie askew in their dry beds, at anchor for ever. Today is my son's birthday. Thousands of miles from here, his healthy lungs are blowing out candles. I should be there but I'm here with another boy, who puts his face close to mine and laughs. I smile back but realise he can't see it, because I'm wearing an antiseptic muzzles to protect me from his breath.”

“If one is to be called a liar, one may as well make an effort to deserve the name.”

“Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; but young men think it is, and we were young.”

“When something important is going on, silence is a lie.”

“I have known men to hazard their fortunes, go long journeys halfway about the world, forget friendships, even lie, cheat, and steal, all for the gain of a book.”

“For the most part I have been able to meet all my goals, but I always strive for bigger goals in life so everything's not complete just yet. My first aspiration was to be known as a singer and also as an advocate for sickle cell disease. I try to be that inspiration, you know. It's not as bad as people try to make it seem. I mean, it is, but it's not. People don't have to be afraid of it; they don't have to be held down by it. Try to find triumph in the situation.”

“I can't stress how much my daughter is an inspiration to stay sober. When I come home and she opens those big blue eyes at me, it's the most amazing feeling I could ever feel.”

“Under the guidance of the Reich, Europe would speedily have become unified. Once the Jewish poison had been eradicated, unification would have been an easy matter. France and Italy, each defeated in turn at an interval of a few months by the two Germanic Powers, would have been well out of it. Both would have had to renounce their inappropriate aspirations to greatness. At the same time they would have had to renounce their pretensions in North Africa and the Near East; and that would have allowed Europe to pursue a bold policy of friendship towards Islam. (4th February 1945)”

“England and France were rivals, not only on the continent, but in the West Indies, in India, and in Europe.”

Source : Albert Bushnell Hart, Ph.D. (1909). “Epochs of American History”

“Historians don't really like to carry on speculative debates, but you could certainly argue that the likelihood of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was extremely, extremely low.”

Source : Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.