Every time I write a book, I think how I could be doing it better to please people – a nicer book with nicer characters – but I just can’t. – John Burnside
The Botanischer Garten in Berlin has one of Europe’s finer winter trails, leading in careful order from glasshouses devoted to African-American and Australian desert species, through a fine collection of tropical plants, and on to the orchid house. – John Burnside
People will occasionally ask me if I understand what it’s like to be lonely. And the truth is I don’t, because for me, solitariness is a blessing, a gift. Me, I get on fine with myself. – John Burnside
In time, we will have to recognise that it is not ‘nature’ that we need to protect, but ourselves, and we can only do this by abandoning the old, grandiose, profit-seeking schemes so beloved of our masters and learning to till the soil, live to scale, and live within our means. – John Burnside
I think humans have to learn a new way of dwelling on this earth. A way of living with their companions: animals, plants and fish. – John Burnside
A man was defined, in my father’s circles, by what he could bear, the pain he could shrug off, the warmth or comfort he could deny himself. – John Burnside
Snow isn’t just pretty. It also cleanses our world and our senses, not just of the soot and grime of a Fife mining town but also of a kind of weary familiarity, a taken-for-granted quality to which our eyes are all too susceptible. – John Burnside
The fabric of a garden is determined as much by its textures as by its tonal range and architectural flair. – John Burnside
In many traditions, hawks are sacred: Apollo’s messengers for the Greeks, sun symbols for the ancient Egyptians and, in the case of the Lakota Sioux, embodiments of clear vision, speed and single-minded dedication. – John Burnside
Hunted for sport by the rich, then driven from large tracts of its natural habitat by agricultural and housing development, the giant panda deserves better than to be scrubbed from conservation’s ledger books through false accounting. – John Burnside
Our ancestors went to the woods to find fuel; they set snares there for birds and gathered nuts and fungi. – John Burnside
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
A mad person isn’t someone who sees what isn’t there; he’s someone who sees what is there but that others can’t see. I really believe that. – John Burnside
A modern arboretum brings us that ancient forest and, with it, a changed apprehension of time, a renewed appreciation of the elegance of natural form and a renewed sense of wonder at the variety of the world we inhabit. – John Burnside
Irrationality interests me more than anything: sometimes it’s very dangerous, but it can be incredibly beautiful. – John Burnside
With all the goodwill and local initiative in the world, we are not about to rewild anything until we change our way of thinking about our place in the creaturely world. – John Burnside
I have never understood why so many gardeners favour straight lines and narrow, regulated borders; perhaps they think wildness could work only in a larger space. – John Burnside
Sometimes, when the wind hits hard and icicles form on the sea cliffs, we can all come together – and at those times, we are at our best. – John Burnside
‘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
For a bird, especially for the more musically inventive, song is the defining characteristic, the primary way by which it knows itself and is known by others. To lose its species song is to lose not just its identity but some part of its presence in the world. – John Burnside
It is common knowledge now that we depend on insects for our continued existence; that, without key pollinators, the human population would collapse in less than a decade. – John Burnside
One day I was talking about what I was going to do next, and just found myself announcing it: ‘I’m going to write a book about my father.’ – John Burnside
Usually, I would mistrust a book if it took that long to write. Usually, if it isn’t done in two years, I suspect there’s something wrong and throw it away. – John Burnside
I don’t like the term ‘mental illness.’ I’d rather just say ‘mad.’ Just like I always say ‘loony bin,’ not ‘mental hospital.’ – John Burnside
The son of a Fife mining town sledder of coal-bings, bottle-forager, and picture-house troglodyte, I was decidedly urban and knew little about native fauna, other than the handful of birds I saw on trips to the beach or Sunday walks. – John Burnside
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
I moved south when I was 11 years old, moved to England. I’ve lived in all kinds of places, all parts of England. – John Burnside
