Makutsi Quotes & Sayings

That is important," said Mma Makutsi from behind her desk. "One does not want a lady who talks too much. — Alexander McCall Smith

Well," said Mma Ramotswe, "I have felt that anger. I felt it when I saw that the van had gone. I felt it a bit in the truck on the way back. But what is the point of anger now, Mma? I don't think that anger will help us." Mma Makutsi sighed. "You are right about anger," she said. "There is no point in it. — Alexander McCall Smith

Men are very sensitive, Mma Makutsi. You would not always think it to look at them, but they are. They do not like you to point out that they are wrong, even when they are. That is the way things are, Mma
it just is. — Alexander McCall Smith

I know that. I do watch Spooks.' Carol was surprised. 'You do? I don't.' 'You should. They do. — Val McDermid

Perhaps her shoes would say something; Mma Makutsi had told her once, jokingly - and she must have been joking - told her that her shoes occasionally gave her advice. Well, perhaps they could tell her not to be so bossy. They must have witnessed it after all - shoes see everything; there are no secrets we can keep from our shoes. — Alexander McCall Smith

Yes, but not in chairs that don't belong to us," countered Mma Makutsi. "That's the trouble with this country, Mma - there are too many people sitting down in other people's chairs. — Alexander McCall Smith

It is so easy to thank people," said Mma Ramotswe, passing the letter over to Mma Makutsi, "and most people don't bother to do it. They don't thank the person who does something for them. They just take it for granted. — Alexander McCall Smith

Mma Makutsi was unconvinced. "Where there is smoke there's fire, Mma. I have always said that." Mma Ramotswe could not let that pass. "But what does Clovis Andersen say in The Principles of Private Detection, Mma? Does he not say that you must be very careful to decide where the smoke is coming from? Smoke can drift, Mma. Those were his exact words, I think. — Alexander McCall Smith

I am glad you are pleased," said Mma Ramotswe. "You have broken the glass ceiling that stops secretaries from reaching their full potential."
Mma Makutsi looked up, as if to search for the ceiling that she had broken. There were only the familiar ceiling boards, fly-tracked and buckling from the heat. But the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel itself could not at that moment have been more glorious in her eyes, more filled with hope and joy. — Alexander McCall Smith

I am a Christian, but I also don't really see myself as a religious person. I see myself as more of a spiritual person. — Haylie Duff

As they left the shop, Mma Ramotswe made amends and told Mma Makutsi that she really thought the blue shoes very beautiful. There was no point in disapproving of a purchase once the deed had been done. — Alexander McCall Smith

Mma Makutsi had overheard this remark and had been so cross that her glasses misted over; that was always a bad sign, Mma Ramotswe knew. — Alexander McCall Smith

needed my collegiate heroics to mean something more than just the Olympian like state of my liver. — Bodhi Alvarez

Mma Makutsi pondered this. "Why are there fewer and fewer gentlemen, Mma Ramotswe?"
"It is our fault, Mma. It is the fault of ladies."
"Why is that?"
"Because we have allowed men to stop behaving as gentlemen, and when you allow people to do what they wish, then that is what they do. They stop doing the things they need to do." She looked at Mma Makutsi across the steering wheel. "That is well known, I think, Mma. That is well known. — Alexander McCall Smith

You cannot divide a child's heart in two" she had observed to Mma Makutsi, "and yet that is what some people wish to do. A child has only one heart."
"And the rest of us?" Mma Makutsi had asked. "Do we not have one heart too?"
Mma Ramotswe nodded. "Yes, we have only one heart, but as you grow older you heart grows bigger. A child loves only one or two things; we love so many things."
"Such as?"
Mma Ramotswe smiled. "Botswana. Rain. Cattle. Friends. Our children. Our late relatives. The smell of woodsmoke in the morning. Red bush tea ... — Alexander McCall Smith

He is a good man, but even a good man can fall for a glamorous woman. That is well known." "That is very well known," agreed Mma Ramotswe. "Look at Adam. Look how he fell for Eve." "Just because she had no clothes on, he fell for her," said Mma Makutsi. "That sometimes helps," said Mma Ramotswe. — Alexander McCall Smith

In order to forgive reason for the evil it has wrought on the majority of men, we must imagine for ourselves what man would be without his reason. 'Tis a necessary evil. — Nicolas Chamfort

And what marvelous things there are for which to be grateful in God's great Creation! — Norman Vincent Peale

It was an innocent enough activity, after all; like looking at the sky, perhaps, when the sun was going down and had made the clouds copper-red, or looking at a herd of fine cattle moving slowly over the land when rains had brought on the sweet green grass. These were pleasures which the soul needed from time to time, and she would wait for Mma Makutsi until she had examined the shoes from all angles. — Alexander McCall Smith

Lions walk on four legs," observed Mma Makutsi. "Was this man walking on four legs? That can be a big giveaway, Mma. — Alexander McCall Smith

But God will surely punish her, Mma, then had decided that this was not the sort of thing that people said any more, even if it was what they were thinking. The trouble was, she thought, that God had so many people to punish these days that he might just not find the time to get round to dealing with Violet Sephotho. It was a disappointing thought - a lost opportunity, in a sense: she would very willingly have volunteered her services to assist in divine punishment, perhaps through something she would call Mma Makutsi's League of Justice that would, strictly but fairly, punish people like Violet. — Alexander McCall Smith

When you have only know someone for a few hours it is difficult to now what they would like to hear. — Lemony Snicket

It was another of Mma Makutsi's odd statements - utterly unfounded in fact, Mma Ramotswe suspected, but not a point that she wished to argue. As far as she was concerned, if a chair was empty, then anybody should be welcome to sit in it. We should share our chairs, she felt. Maybe that was the real problem with the modern world - not enough of us were prepared to share our chairs. — Alexander McCall Smith

But remember, that for every cheating wife in Botswana, there are five hundred and fifty cheating husbands."
Mma Makutsi whistled. "That is an amazing figure," she said. "Where did you read that?"
"Nowhere," chuckled Mma Ramotswe. "I made it up. But that doesn't stop it from being true. — Alexander McCall Smith

Nowadays when a person lives somewhere, in a neighborhood, the place is not certified for him. More than likely he will live there sadly and the emptiness which is inside him will expand until it evacuates the entire neighborhood. But if he sees a movie which shows his very neighborhood, it becomes possible for him to live, for a time at least, as a person who is Somewhere and not Anywhere. — Walker Percy

What is sure is what God has revealed. With that we can start our exploration. In our exploring what is sure is that what the Church has defined is true, what the Church has condemned is false: Christ established a Church that could do us this essential service. For most of us, exploration will be only the effort to understand as much as is thus certain. And it is immensely rewarding. — Frank Sheed