Scottish Journalist Quotes

Alan Hansen

Andrew O'Hagan

William McIlvanney

Annie S. Swan

The way that words mutate reminds me of fashions in music. The word--the note--is a constant. But the setting and chord in which it occurs alters with the mood of a nation from major to minor, from the assertive to the mournful and foreboding.

The earth is mankind's ultimate haven, our blessed terra firma. When it trembles and gives way beneath our feet, it's as though one of God's cheques has bounced.

I am inclined to put the zenith of success-the time of most consideration and public labor -as somewhere in the sixties, say from sixty-five to seventy.

William Robertson Nicoll

O God, give me work till the end of my life
And life till the end of my work.

Just as the apparent openness of rectitude will have its hidden places where foul things moulder in the dark, so, in the shadowed lives of those outside the law may sometimes be found concealed honesty and naive ideals.

William McIlvanney

I think there's a lot of coloured players in all the major teams and there are lots of coloured players who are probably the best in the Premier League. If you look at 25 or 30 years ago it was probably in a bad way – not as bad as some of the other nations on the Continent – but certainly there is always, always room for improvement.

This is the tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind.

It's not a crime not to know yourself. It's not a crime to send life away. It's just a shame.