But I think the real tension lies in the relationship between what you might call the pursuer and his quarry, whether it's the writer or the spy. John le Carre More Quotes by John le Carre More Quotes From John le Carre We have learned in recent years to translate almost all of political life in terms of conspiracy. And the spy novel, as never before, really, has come into its own. John le Carre spy political years There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur. John le Carre too-much moments stuff Gerald Westerby, he told himself. You were present at your birth. You were present at your several marriages and at some of your divorces, and you will certainly be present at your funeral. High time, in our considered view, that you were present at certain other crucial moments in your history. John le Carre divorce funeral views By repetition, each lie becomes an irreversible fact upon which other lies are constructed. John le Carre repetition lying facts Sometimes we have to do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions, not answers. John le Carre our-actions answers order Jesus Christ only had twelve, you know, and one of them was a double. John le Carre twelve jesus christ I once heard someone say morality was method. Do you hold with that? I suppose you wouldn't. You would say that morality was vested in the aim, I expect. Difficult to know what one's aims are, that's the trouble, specially if you're British. John le Carre british morality trouble Treason is very much a matter of habit, Smiley decided. John le Carre spy habit matter After all, if you make your enemy look like a fool, you lose the justification for engaging him. John le Carre fool looks enemy To possess another language, Charlemagne tells us, is to possess another soul. German is such a language. Once you have it in your head, you can go there anytime, you can close the door, you have a refuge. John le Carre language soul doors Home's where you go when you run out of homes. John le Carre homecoming home running God is in his Heaven and the first night was a wow. John le Carre night heaven firsts Let's die of it before we're too old. John le Carre dies What else has a journalist to do these days, after all, but report life's miseries? John le Carre journalist misery these-days A dead man is the worst enemy alive, I thought. You can't alter his power over you. You can't alter what you love or owe. And it's too late to ask him for his absolution. He has beaten you all ways. John le Carre worst-enemy regret men Look... we're getting to be old men, and we've spent our lives looking for the weaknesses in one another's systems. I can see through Eastern values just as you can see through our Western ones. Both of us, I am sure, have experienced ad nauseam the technical satisfactions of this wretched war. But now your own side is going to shoot you. Don't you think it's time to recognise that there is as little worth on your side as there is on mine? John le Carre men war thinking I have a theory which I suspect is rather immoral,' Smiley went on, more lightly. 'Each of us has only a quantum of compassion. That if we lavish our concern on every stray cat, we never get to the centre of things. John le Carre spy cat compassion There will be no war, but in the pursuit of principle no stone will be left standing. John le Carre principles stones war Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen. John le Carre congratulations lonely home George Smiley: [quoting an old letter from Bill Haydon about Jim Prideaux] He has that heavy quiet that commands. He's my other half. Between us we'd make one marvelous man. He asks nothing better than to be in my company or that of my wicked, divine friends, and I'm vastly tickled by the compliment. He's virgin, about eight foot tall, and built by the same firm that did Stonehenge John le Carre eight feet men
