Buchan's Quotes

I get into a tearing passion about something I know very little about, and when I learn more my passion ebbs away. — John Buchan

I'm an economical soul, and if I'm going to be hanged I want a good stake for my neck. — John Buchan

Was it possible to find recompense, meaning, connection with others amidst the mess and the muddle ? — Elizabeth Buchan

Ignore donkeys and other naysayers! — Mary Buchan

If God is calling you to do something, do it! You can't run away from God! — Angus Buchan

London is like the tropical bush
if you don't exercise constant care the jungle, in the shape of the slums, will break in. — John Buchan

Prayer opens the heart to God, and it is the means by which the soul, though empty, is filled by God. — John Buchan

We can pay our debts to the past by putting the future in debt to ourselves. — John Buchan

We generally write best of what we ourselves have seen. — James Buchan

All UK nuclear power stations should be shut down without delay. — James Buchan

The good thing about having our buttons pushed is that we can no longer ignore the sensitive areas where we need to heal. — Mary Buchan

A fool tries to look different: a clever man looks the same and is different. — John Buchan

I think life's a bit of what you make it and a little smidgen of you being the jellyfish, and the tide's just gently helping you along. — Andrew Buchan

Nurture your health, both inside and out. — Mary Buchan

I've been to L.A., it's horrible. Don't waste your money on the flight. — Andrew Buchan

Were there peace and justice in the Middle East, the Arabs would no more need their tinhorn dictators than they would their corpulent princes. — James Buchan

Financial crises are like fireworks: they illuminate the sky even as they go pop. — James Buchan

A century ago, petroleum - what we call oil - was just an obscure commodity; today it is almost as vital to human existence as water. — James Buchan

I feel very privileged to have worked with a lot of outstanding actors: Alun Armstrong, Peter Mullan, Matt Smith and Andrew Garfield. — Andrew Buchan

Initially, it was my dream to get into RADA. Then I got in. So it became my dream to show them I wasn't half bad at acting. — Andrew Buchan

It struck me that Albania was the sort of place that might keep a man from yawning. — John Buchan

Here were we wretched creatures of men making for each other's throats, and outraging the good earth which God had made so fair a habitation. — John Buchan

Profits in business always depend on the rate of interest: the higher the interest, the higher the rate of profit required. — James Buchan

I'm always fascinated by the 'who would you like to work with' question. I've never really had an answer; it only really comes as you work with them. — Andrew Buchan

Civilization is a conspiracy. Modern life is the silent compact of comfortable folk to keep up pretences. — John Buchan

I would like to get back to making people laugh. Before drama school, I did nothing but comedy. — Andrew Buchan

[W]ithout humour you cannot run a sweetie-shop, let alone a nation. — John Buchan

Economists, like royal children, are not punished for their errors. — James Buchan

Is there any purpose to translating poetry? A poem does not contain information of importance, like a signpost or a warning notice. — James Buchan

When it hurts, don't be afraid to say ouch! — Mary Buchan

Pessimism is the one ism which kills the soul. — John Buchan

I believe that every man has in his soul a passion for treasure-hunting, which will often drive a coward into prodigies of valour. — John Buchan

Liberty in Islam is the liberty to be a Muslim, democracy likewise, individualism likewise. — James Buchan

You can rewrite your personal story! — Mary Buchan

To get Over iT, we must get real, go deep, and live beyond ourselves. — Mary Buchan

It was strange how fear had gone,now that we knew the worst and had a fighting man by our side. — John Buchan

Civilisation is a conspiracy. — John Buchan

There is power in prayer. When men work, they work. but when men pray, God works. — Angus Buchan

Any new financial order for the world must tackle the three chief challenges of our age. — James Buchan

An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support. — John Buchan

To spend your days on such work when the world is chockful of amusing things. Life goes roaring by and you only hear the echo in your stuffy rooms. — John Buchan

When a man comes out of great danger, he is apt to be a little deaf to the call of duty. — John Buchan

I believe that all wisdom consists in caring immensely for a few right things, and not caring a straw about the rest. — John Buchan

Leadership is only courage and wisdom, and a great carefulness of self. — John Buchan

Peace is that state in which fear of any kind is unknown. — John Buchan

The best prayers have often more groans than words. — John Buchan

Those who are resilient can more quickly regain their equilibrium and spring back when they are thrown off kilter by the storms of life. — Mary Buchan

We cannot keep the Good News to ourselves any longer! Time is running out! — Angus Buchan

I believe everything out of the common. The only thing to distrust is the normal. — John Buchan

The three people I've always wanted to meet are Stephen Fry, Billy Connolly and Steven Gerrard. — Andrew Buchan

I shut my eyes tight in the darkness. "I believe in Jesus Christ," I said. "With God all things are possible. — Angus Buchan

If good history is dispassionate history, it must naturally wait until the passions of the period subside. — James Buchan

By pouring money and goods into devastated regions, foreign aid workers sometimes compound the disruption and debauch the survivors. — James Buchan

That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it. — John Buchan

The more doubtful the political outlook the fiercer will be the dogmas which men create and contend for. — John Buchan

When you are thankful in all things, all of a sudden it's a new day! — Angus Buchan

The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them. — John Buchan

I began to get really keen, for every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective. — John Buchan

Most true points are fine points. There never was a dispute between mortals where both sides hadn't a bit of right. — John Buchan

The book trade is a spiritual barometer of a nations well-being. — John Buchan

There may be Peace without Joy, and Joy without Peace, but the two combined make Happiness. — John Buchan

What would you call the highest happiness? Wratislaw was asked. The sense of competence, was the answer, given without hesitation. — John Buchan

The secret belongs only to the Maker of good and faithful dogs. — John Buchan

Live your life above your circumstances and beyond the beliefs and behaviors that limit you — Mary Buchan

Discover your unique voice! — Mary Buchan

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. — John Buchan

The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is not difficulty, but impossibility. — Angus Buchan

Life without oil, in fact, would be so different that it is frightening to contemplate. We are addicted, and it is no comfortable addiction. — James Buchan

The father is the head of the home; the mother is the heart of the home; the children are the reward, the joy and the life of the home. — Angus Buchan

People will come and go, so enjoy your seasons of friendship. — Mary Buchan

WPC Buchan might not know much about art, but she knew what gave her the fucking willies, and these things took the hairy biscuit. — Stuart MacBride

The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. — John Buchan

By God!' he whispered, drawing his breath in sharply, 'it is all pure Rider Haggard and Conan Doyle. — John Buchan

Wise men never grow up; indeed, they grow younger, for they lose the appalling worldly wisdom of youth. — John Buchan

William Carey, the great Baptist missionary, said, "Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God. — Angus Buchan

Fortunately for mankind the brain in a life of action turns more to the matter in hand than to conjuring up the chances of the future. — John Buchan

It is wonderful how much news there is when people write every other day; if they wait for a month, there is nothing that seems worth telling. — Anna Buchan

He disliked emotion, not because he felt lightly, but because he felt deeply. — John Buchan

Young girls passed me with romance still in their eyes, and others, a little older, with the romance dead. — John Buchan

Any large-scale organization must lose some of the merits of its rudimentary beginnings. Quantity will have a coarsening effect on quality. — John Buchan

We should not rely on our feelings; we had to walk by faith and not by sight. If we preserve in the Lord, we always succeed. — Angus Buchan

The robe of flesh wears thin, and with the years God shines through all things. — John Buchan

Saudi Arabia is a puritanical state that claims a monopoly of wisdom and virtue. — James Buchan

I always try to suit my clothes to my company. It is the only way to be inconspicuous. — John Buchan

Losing your capital is like losing your trousers. It is a real humiliation, and one not to be soon repeated. — James Buchan

Embrace the freedom serenity brings! — Mary Buchan

If you're going to be killed you invent some kind of flag and country to fight for, and if you survive you get to love the thing — John Buchan

Bethink you of the blessedness. Every wife is like the Mother of God and has the hope of bearing a saviour of mankind. — John Buchan

Without humility there can be no humanity. — John Buchan

The dividing line between wish and need was never clear. — James Buchan

The eyes were of a color which he could never decide on, afterwards when he told the story he used to say they were the color of everything in Spring. — John Buchan

The world survived the fall of the Roman empire and will no doubt outlast our own so much more splendid civilisation. — James Buchan

It was a soft breathless June morning, with a promise of sultriness later ... — John Buchan

To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education. — John Buchan