“If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out. Oscar Wilde” — John le Carré Copy Share Image
By repetition, each lie becomes an irreversible fact upon which other lies are constructed. — John le Carre Copy Share Image
If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing. — John le Carre Copy Share Image
“When the truth finally catches up to you, don't be a hero and run.” — John le Carré Copy Share Image
We lie to one another every day, in the sweetest way, often unconsciously. We dress ourselves and compose ourselves in order to… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
It was a charming fantasy of romantics that the spies would stop spying, that political conflict would end and politicians would tell… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
“suspicion, experience, perception, common sense—for Maston these were not the organs of fact. Paper was fact, Ministers were fact,” — John le Carré Copy Share Image
In itself, the practice of deception is not particularly exacting; it is a matter of experience, of professional expertise, it is a… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
I think the greatest single enemy is the misuse of information, the perversion of truth in the hands of terribly skillful people. — John le Carre Copy Share Image
Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth, as was demonstrated with Watergate, we as the public… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
“These are true stories told from memory – to which you are entitled to ask, what is truth, and what is memory… — John le Carré Copy Share Image
The creation of George Smiley, the retired spy recalled to hunt for just such a high-ranking mole in 'Tinker, Tailor,' was extremely personal. I… — John le Carre Copy Share
During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity. — John le Carre Copy Share
“You're history, Donohue. You think countries run the fucking world! Go back to fucking Sunday school. It's 'God save our multinational' they're singing these… — John le Carré Copy Share
When you're my age and you see a story, you better go for it pretty quickly. I'd just like to get a few more… — John le Carre Copy Share
The trouble is, when professional spies go out of their way to make a definitive statement about one of their own, the public tends… — John le Carre Copy Share
Ideologies have no heart of their own. They're the whores and angels of our striving selves. — John le Carre Copy Share
“Pain observed is journalistic pain. It's diplomatic pain. It's television pain, over as soon as you switch off your beastly set.” — John le Carré Copy Share
The greatest threat to mankind comes from the renunciation of individual scruple in favor of institutional denominators. . . . Real heroism lies, as… — John le Carre Copy Share
“and the wood smoke will roll out of the fireplace on to the carpet we paid too much for on that rainy afternoon in… — John le Carré Copy Share
“Middle children weep longer than their brothers and sisters. Over her mother’s shoulder, stilling her pains and her injured pride, Jackie Lacon watched the… — John le Carré Copy Share
For decades to come the spy world will continue to be the collective couch where the subconscious of each nation is confessed. — John le Carre Copy Share
The more identities a man has, the more they express the person they conceal. — John le Carre Copy Share
