Ian Rankin Quotes

I'm as Scottish as they come.

I still feel very Scottish.

I put it to you that there are no British poets, there are no British novelists. I have heard myself described as one, but I think really I'm an English novelist; there are Scottish poets and Scottish novelists.

I'm fiercely proud to be Scottish.

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am a very patriotic guy, in terms of my Scottishness and my roots.

I think Scotland has some great stories.

I'm Scottish first, and it's odd to hear that I'm a Scottish-American.

I do feel Scottish in some way. Maybe it's to do with visiting my grandparents here every summer as a child, but I am aware of my Scottish ancestry. It's there all right, but it would be pushing it to label me a Scottish painter. Or, indeed, an anywhere painter.

The appellation of a Scottish Bard is by far my highest pride; to continue to deserve it is my most exalted ambition.

I don't feel we need to be independent for me to feel confident in my Scottish identity. I think Scotland is pretty comfortable in its identity. We won't need independence to preserve it... if we don't become independent, it won't disappear; it isn't under existential threat.

There's something about the pipes that just connects with Scots, they go mental for it - it's in our DNA somehow.

The Irish seem to have more fire about them than the Scots.

The Network Generation are secure in, and proud of, their Scottishness. Unlike my generation that grew up in the '80s, they don't see our sense of identity as under threat.

I'm not really clear what the whole deal is with flags. I like my flag, but I wouldn't die for it. There's issues of identity, of course. That's going to always come in. I, for example, don't want to be called a 'North Britisher.' I want to be Scottish.

Ah, Scotland. I am three-parts Scottish and terribly proud of it, although maybe we should divide it into eighths, because my two-eighths are Danish and English, the Lumley part. But the bulk of the rest of me is Scottish - and Scottish ministers especially.

My background is Scottish.

If a nation's literature declines, the nation atrophies and decays.

I feel more Scottish than Norman.

I'd imagine if there were more Scottish people making Scottish movies about Scotland, it would not only be educational, but it would instill a sense of pride.

Both my parents are Scottish, and although I grew up in Canada after moving over, all of my family are proud to be Scots.

I'm hugely fond of Scotland. My daughter, Jemma, was born in the Simpson Memorial Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, and it always tickled me that she was so vexed she didn't have a Scottish accent even though she was brought up down south.

I found that Scottishness and Englishness are actually strong, instinctive things, whatever the historical reasons. Even the accent changes - just two inches across the border.

The importance of education is ingrained in Scottish history.

I had a whole Scottish existence until we moved to London when I was four.

Being a great believer in Scottish tradition, I followed the example of my fellow countrymen and moved to England.