Americans believe that if you know something, you should do something about it. John le Carre More Quotes by John le Carre More Quotes From John le Carre I think that most of my books are part of some process of self-education, often about the places I go to. Most of all, they are about the peculiar tension between institutional loyalty and loyalty to oneself; the mystery of patriotism, for a Brit of my age and generation, where it runs, how it should be defined, what it's worth and what a corrupting force it can be when misapplied. All that stuff is just in me and it comes out in the characters. I don't mean to preach, but I know I do, and I'm a very flawed person. It's quite ridiculous. John le Carre loyaltyrunningbook I move my lips when I read -- I'm painfully slow -- so I like really good English. John le Carre lipsmoving Multi-billion-dollar multinational corporations view the exploitation of the world's sick and dying as a sacred duty to their shareholders. John le Carre sickdyingviews It's part of a writer's profession, as it's part of a spy's profession, to prey on the community to which he's attached, to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters, whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely. John le Carre lonelywritingthinking Give a man a car of his own and he leaves humility and common sense behind him in the garage. John le Carre common-sensehumilitymen America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War. John le Carre pigswaramerica To possess another language is to possess another soul. John le Carre languagesoul In itself, the practice of deception is not particularly exacting; it is a matter of experience, of professional expertise, it is a facility most of us can acquire. John le Carre deceptionpracticematter It's death, that's what I'm suffering from. The systematic encroachment of the big D. John le Carre systematicsufferingdeath We lie to one another every day, in the sweetest way, often unconsciously. We dress ourselves and compose ourselves in order to present ourselves to one another. John le Carre fake-peoplelyingreality It's easy to forget what intelligence consists of: luck and speculation. Here and there a windfall, here and there a scoop. John le Carre here-and-thereluckforget I think bankers will always get away with whatever they can get away with. John le Carre get-awaybankersthinking Unfortunately it is the weak who destroy the strong. John le Carre strongweak People like you should be stopped, Mr. Woodrow,' she mused aloud, with a puzzled shake of her wise head. 'You think you're solving the world's problems but actually you're the problem. John le Carre wisepeoplethinking Novelists are not equipped to make a movie, in my opinion. They make their own movie when they write: they're casting, they're dressing the scene, they're working out where the energy of the scene is coming from and they're also relying tremendously on the creative imagination of the reader. John le Carre work-outimaginationwriting I made a series of wrong decisions about moderately recent books, and I've sold the rights to studios for ridiculous amounts of money and the films have never been made. That's the saddest thing of all, because they're locked up and no-one else can make them. John le Carre decisionrightsbook I taught principally German language and literature at Eton. But any master with private pupils must be prepared to teach anything they ask for. That can be as diverse as the early paintings of Salvador Dali or how bumblebees manage to fly. John le Carre german-languagebumblebeesliterature I was quite able at the insignificant work I did in MI6, but absolutely dysfunctional in my domestic life. I had no experience of fatherhood. I had no example of marital bliss or the family unit. John le Carre fatherhoodableexample In every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis, the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know. John le Carre issueswarreality Luck's just another word for destiny... either you make your own or you're screwed. John le Carre destinyluck
