What shop did this book come from? she asked. Her father was looking worried at the cooker. He always got rice wrong. I don't know, Brooksie, he said, I don't remember. That was unimaginable, not remembering where a book has come from! and where it was bought from! That was part of the whole history, the whole point, of any book that you owned! And when you picked it up later in the house at home, you knew, you just knew by looking and having it in your hand, where it came from and where you got it and when and why you'd decided to buy it.
Ali SmithAll we are is eyes looking for the unbroken or the edges where the broken bits might fit each other.
Ali SmithThe head has its confines. The headโs got those all right, and the heart. The heart has its reasons.
Ali SmithWe'd never expect to understand a piece of music on one listen, but we tend to believe we've read a book after reading it just once.
Ali SmithA game one of my sisters will play with me in my first year of being alive is called Good Baby, Bad Baby. This consists of being told I am a good baby until I smile and laugh, then being told I am a bad baby until I burst into tears. This training will stand me in good stead all through my life.
Ali Smith