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The curse of Scottish literature is the lack of a whole language, which finally means the lack of a whole mind.

— Edwin Muir Scott and Scotland (1936)

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More quotes by Edwin Muir

I have observed in foolish awe
The dateless mid-days of the law
And seen indifferent justice done
By everyone on everyone.

The Brothers (1983)

Long time he lay upon the sunny hill,
To his father's house below securely bound.

Childhood (1983)

The world's great day is growing late,
Yet strange these fields that we have planted
So long with crops of love and hate.

One Foot in Eden (1972)

There is a road that turning always
Cuts off the country of Again.
Archers stand there on every side
And as it runs time's deer is slain
And lies where it has lain.

They do not live in the world,
Are not in time and space.
From birth to death hurled
No word do they have, not one
To plant a foot upon,
Were never in any place.

The Animals (1983)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

Albert Pike Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871)

There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edwin Muir (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.