Hugh MacDiarmid

"I amna fou' sae muckle as tired — deid dune. It's gey and hard wark coupin' gless for gless Wi' Cruivie and Gilsanquhar and the like, And I'm no' juist as bauld as aince I wes."

"I'll ha'e nae hauf-way hoose, but aye be whaur Extremes meet — it's the only way I ken To dodge the curst conceit o' bein' richt That damns the vast majority o' men."

"To meddle wi the thistle and to pluck The figs frae't is my metier, I think."

"The number of people who can copulate properly may be few; the number who can write well are infinitely fewer."

"If there's a sword-like sang That can cut Scotland clear O a' the warld beside Rax me the hilt o't here.For there's nae jewal till Frae the rest o earth it's free, Wi the starry separateness I'd fain to Scotland gie."

"The rose of all the world is not for me. I want for my part Only the little white rose of Scotland That smells sharp and sweet — and breaks the heart."