“Choose life … I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?” NeedsReasonNo ReasonHeroinChoose LifeTrainspotting Author:Irvine Welsh
“You can't just have stuff that is free and escapist, you have to have stuff that is confrontational as well. You need stuff that is mystical but you need the realism too.” NeedsWellsStuffRealismMysticalEscapists Author:Irvine Welsh
“You have to let people express themselves in the way that they need to express themselves. You have to express yourself in any way possible, provided you're prepared to live with the consequences.” PeopleWayNeedsConsequencePreparedExpress Yourself Author:Irvine Welsh
“I think the media in America have been absolutely fantastic about the rise of Trump, they've kept a firm eye on the ball: this constitutes democracy, this constitutes transparency, this constitutes fairness, this constitutes the way to behave in a civic society, this constitutes fascism, this constitutes authoritarianism. They're drawing that line, and they're calling him out every time. That's really what needs to happen, and you just have to do that.” ThinkingWayNeedsHas BeensHappensEyeAmericaLinesDemocracyMediaTrumpCallingBallsDrawingFantasticFirmBehaveFascismFairnessTransparencyCivicsAuthoritarianism Author:Irvine Welsh
“In America I think we need to move towards a social democracy, European-style basically, and I think that in Britain we do as well.” ThinkingNeedsWellsAmericaMovingSocialDemocracyStyleBritainSocial Democracy Author:Irvine Welsh
“It's crazy for somebody who's kind of empowered and wealthy like myself to say, "Oh, I don't need to be patronized by the state, I can make my own choices." But I've got things to look forward to, and places to go and if that'd been me there forty years ago, when I was a young kid in Muirhouse, it might've been a different story.” IfsNeedsYearsLooksKindI CanDifferentStatesStoriesMightKidsYoungChoicesMy OwnCrazyYears AgoFortyWealthyEmpoweredPlaces To Go Author:Irvine Welsh
“I was in Athens for a football match when 9/11 went down, and it was quite spectacular - we went into this bar and tried to find out what happened, and the bartender said "it's only the American and the Arabs. They're not big football nations." So the feeling was, what's it got to do with us? Why are football games being cancelled in Europe? The intelligentsia in the West feel like they have to figure out the significance of it all, whereas people have other pressing concerns, related to basic needs.” PeopleNeedsFeelsSaidFeelingsBigsGamesNationsHappenedFiguresFootballEuropeConcernDown AndWestBarsRelatedSignificanceSpectacularFootball GameAthensBartenderBasic NeedsFootball Match Author:Irvine Welsh
“I can see myself wanting to write a historical novel - you don't need to worry about references to reality TV or pop music, you can just get on with the basics of story and character.” NeedsWritingI CanCharacterStoriesRealityWorryNovelTvsHistoricalPopsPop MusicBasicsReality TvHistorical Novels Author:Irvine Welsh
“I'm quite comfortable now with being misunderstood. I don't really feel the need either to pander to it or to refute it. Just go on, and do what I've got to do.” NeedsFeelsGoes OnComfortableMisunderstoodBeing Misunderstood Author:Irvine Welsh
