John Burnside Quotes

John Burnside
John Burnside
Scottish Writer
Born: Mar 19, 1955
Great Life Me Think Time World
Related authors: Alexander McCall Smith Armando Iannucci Frances Wright Grant Morrison Henry Drummond Jane Welsh Carlyle Robert Louis Stevenson Steven Moffat
'The Gardener' is more than a marvellous collection of images by a master photographer. John Burnside
Master Collection Photographer More Marvellous Than Gardener Images
The conventional, and painfully artificial, separation of the human realm from the natural other is bound to perish, albeit over a period of time, until we are obliged to learn how to cultivate our gardens under the most demanding conditions. John Burnside
Time Natural Demanding Separation Other Our Obliged Bound Over Most Until Period Learn Perish How Cultivate Conditions Artificial Human Conventional Realm Painfully Gardens Albeit
I know that the only reason American landscapes sometimes disappoint me is that, just a century before I was born, the great rivers and prairies and wild forests still existed. And they were sublime. John Burnside
Great Me Sometimes Before Wild Born Only Rivers Disappoint Know Prairie Still Were Existed Sublime Forests American Just Century Landscapes Reason
As a child, I was always intrigued by the question: what is it that distinguishes a city from a town? Is it size? Population? Location? When I asked grown-ups, the confident answer was that a city has to have a cathedral - which, to a child raised in a devout Catholic setting, made sense. John Burnside
Made Sense Setting Location Distinguishes Intrigued City Town Cathedral Catholic Devout Answer Always Question Child Confident Size Which Asked Population Grown-Ups Raised
The woods were a boon; all too often, the forest offered danger and mystery. Yet it could be liberating. If you entered that wild place on its own terms, you might be accorded wisdom. John Burnside
Wisdom You Own Too Wild Danger Liberating Boon Entered Could Mystery Terms Were Accorded Forest Offered Often Woods Place Might
Given the right information to help them decide, people will opt for conditions that benefit our creaturely neighbours, even where they have no particular interest in larks or cuckoo wasps - because those conditions benefit us. John Burnside
People Will Benefit Our Those Neighbours Given Particular Because Cuckoo Conditions Where Decide Information Interest Them Us Help Even Wasps Right
The older I get, the happier my childhood becomes. John Burnside
Older Becomes Get Childhood Happier
I don't want to suggest that matrimony was necessarily a tragic affair - some of our neighbours' marriages seemed quite functional, if somewhat routine; nevertheless, in the workaday world, it is wedlock that is most likely to offer the occasion for life-threatening disappointment. John Burnside
Disappointment World Our Neighbours Marriages Some Seemed Wedlock Life-Threatening Somewhat Nevertheless Most Likely Occasion Affair Tragic Matrimony Offer Quite Want Functional Routine Necessarily Suggest
Sometimes, though only in my most unguarded moments, I can still think of Annette Winters as my first love. At fifteen, she was tall, slender, very dark: an intelligent, sly girl possessed of what I think of now, though I didn't think of then, as a kind of debatable beauty. John Burnside
Love Dark Sometimes Girl First Beauty Think Slender Possessed Though Kind Sly Only Winters Most First Love She Tall Still Debatable Very Intelligent Fifteen Then Moments Now
When you have a child, you think about your personal history and what you offer them as a larger narrative, and I realised I knew nothing about my father's circumstances other than what he'd told me. John Burnside
Me History You Father Nothing Think Other Circumstances About He Knew Narrative Offer Than Child Personal Realised Them Your Larger
My father was this big, tough guy, almost heroic in proportion to me as a child. It was only later that I saw how fearful he was. John Burnside
Me Father Tough Big Heroic Later Saw Fearful Guy Only Tough Guy Proportion He Almost How Child
My poems tend to be more celebratory and lyrical, and the novels so far pretty dark. Poetry doesn't seem to me to be an appropriate tool for exploring that. John Burnside
Me Dark Tool Lyrical Appropriate Pretty Seem Poems More Poetry Tend Far Exploring Novels
I'm interested in the way language is used to navigate the world around us. John Burnside
World Language Way Around Interested Us Used Navigate
'Moby-Dick' really threw me. I read it when I was 14 and my best friends were books. It changed the way I looked at the world. John Burnside
Best Me World Changed Books Way Threw Looked Read Were Friends Really
I always wanted to be a painter. I loved painting. I went on three different art courses but had no talent whatsoever. John Burnside
Art Three Painting No Talent Had Talent Courses Always Whatsoever Different Wanted Loved Painter
I love long sentences. My big heroes of fiction writing are Henry James and Proust - people who recognise that life doesn't consist of declarative statements, but rather modifications, qualifications and feelings. John Burnside
Life Love People Writing Heroes Long Feelings Big Statements Consist Recognise Rather Qualifications Proust Fiction James Fiction Writing Sentences Who Henry Henry James
Growing up, I learnt to think, 'Let's make it a big night tonight, as you never know what's going to happen next.' So now I have enough, I take too much; when I get the chance to have a fine dinner, I will. And it's had an effect on my health. John Burnside
Health You Too Much Will Dinner Big Think Too Enough Fine Take Never Had Know Make Learnt Effect Up Get Going Happen Much Next Growing Growing Up Now Night Chance Tonight
'The Asylum Dance' was written after I'd moved back to Scotland and was a response to moving to my old home area of Fife. John Burnside
Home Old Dance Back Asylum Response Area Written Scotland Moved After Moving Old Home Fife
I really like to try my hand at everything, and I think it's probably dangerous to let oneself be pigeon-holed, not necessarily by other people, but in one's own mind. John Burnside
People Dangerous Try Mind Own Think Other Everything Oneself Like Pigeon-Holed Hand Really Necessarily
The way I mainly use the Internet is keeping in touch with poets that live far away. My main interest is contemporary American poets and some Spanish language poets, and I keep in touch with their work through either their websites or email. John Burnside
Work Language Internet Websites Live Email Way Some Touch Poets Through Main Mainly Contemporary American Either Interest Spanish Far Far Away Use Keep Away Keeping
I realised I'd spent a lot of time in my poetry trying to find a way of talking about that whereof we cannot speak. John Burnside
Time Speak Way Spent We Cannot Find About Poetry Talking Lot Trying Whereof Cannot Realised
As a child, I was consumed with a near-obsessive curiosity about what the world felt like for other creatures. John Burnside
World Other About Consumed Like Felt Child Curiosity Creatures
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