Quotes by Irvine Welsh

You were what you were and you are what you are. Fuck that regrets bullshit.

I think young writers should get other degrees first, social sciences, arts degrees or even business degrees. What you learn is research skills, a necessity because a lot of writing is about trying to find information.

The 90s was a decade of mundane market-consumer nothingness where there was nothing coming up from the streets you just had someone in an office deciding what was cool.

I just love the weather. I live on Miami Beach, which is all boutique hotels and cocktails. I do sometimes go along to smart parties in my white suit, but I wouldnt really recognise any famous people if they were there because Im not very good at star-spotting.

Everybody in my family were great storytellers. My dad and his brothers would just go on and on; they could tell amazing stories. I think it was something to do with the Celtic, oral storytelling tradition. People very much had that propensity towards telling tales.

When you grow up in a place, you always think its mundane. Then you travel around and live in different places, and you realise that youve got it the wrong way round.

Theres all this stuff that is happening in Edinburgh now, its a sad attempt to create an Edinburgh society, similar to a London society, a highbrow literature celebrity society.

I enjoy the freedom of the blank page.

“We wait and think and doubt and hate. How does it make you feel? The overwhelming feeling is rage. We hate ourself for being unable to be other than what we are. Unable to be better. We feel rage. The feelings must be followed. It doesnt matter whether youre an ideologue or a sensualist, you follow the stimuli thinking that theyre your signposts to the promised land. But they are nothing of the kind. What they are is rocks to navigate the past, each on your brush against, ripping you a little more open and they are always more on the horizon. But you cant face up to the that, so you force yourself to believe the bullshit of those you instinctively know are liars and you repeat those lies to yourself and to others, hoping that by repeating them often and fervently enough youll attain the godlike status we accord those who tell the lies most frequently and most passionately. But you never do, and even if you could, you wouldnt value it, youd realise that nobody believes in heroes any more. We know that they only want to sell us something we dont really want and keep from us what we really do need. Maybe thats a good thing. Maybe were getting in touch with our condition at last. Its horrible how we always die alone, but no worse than living alone.”

“Some people are easier to love when you dont have to be around them.”

“The dead man is on the trolley and the woman collapses across his chest. Thats what the ghouls want a shufti at, like at that Princess Dianas funeral, they want to scrutinise those who really knew her, to drink the misery out of their faces.”