--- title: "1 Dying Civilisation Quotes By Eric Ambler" description: "1 Dying Civilisation quotes by Eric Ambler. Plus more from Eric Ambler and more Dying Civilisation sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b65/eric-ambler-30787_death_in-a-dying-civilisation-political-presti_2849215.jpg" --- > [“In a dying civilisation, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician but of the man with the best beside manner. It is the decoration conferred on mediocrity by ignorance. Yet there remains one sort of political prestige…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/in-a-dying-civilisation-political-prestige-is-the-reward-not-of-the/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b65/eric-ambler-30787_death_in-a-dying-civilisation-political-presti_2849215.jpg) ## More by Eric Ambler > [“If such things were not so dangerous one would laugh. But one recognizes the technique. Such propaganda always begins with words, but soon it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/if-such-things-were-not-so-dangerous-one-would-laugh-but-one/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [Yet, when these facts are seen side by side with other facts in the case, it is difficult not to become lost in superstitious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/yet-when-these-facts-are-seen-side-by-side-with-other-facts-in-the/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [“but when you have been nourishing your soul on expectation, reality is apt to be disappointing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/but-when-you-have-been-nourishing-your-soul-on-expectation-reality-is/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [In a dying civilization, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician, but of the man with the best bedside manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/in-a-dying-civilization-political-prestige-is-the-reward-not-of-the/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [The important thing to know about an assassination or an attempted assassination is not who fired the shot, but who paid for the bullet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/the-important-thing-to-know-about-an-assassination-or-an-attempted/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [A person who searched rooms, brandished pistols, dangled promises of half a million franc fees for nameless services and then wrote instructions to Polish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/a-person-who-searched-rooms-brandished-pistols-dangled-promises-of/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [“It was the power of Business, not the deliberations of statesman, that shaped the destinies of nations. The Foreign Ministers of the great powers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/it-was-the-power-of-business-not-the-deliberations-of-statesman-that/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [For the skeptic there remains only one consolation: if there should be such a thing as superhuman law it is administered with subhuman inefficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/for-the-skeptic-there-remains-only-one-consolation-if-there-should-be/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [Good' did not triumph. 'Evil' did not triumph. The two resolved, destroyed each other and created new 'evils', new 'goods' which slew each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/good-did-not-triumph-evil-did-not-triumph-the-two-resolved-destroyed/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [Reality is always so obstructive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/reality-is-always-so-obstructive/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [Never tell a lie when you can bullshit your way through it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/never-tell-a-lie-when-you-can-bullshit-your-way-through-it/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [“I am tempted to find reason and justice in the fact that he died as violently and indecently as he lived. But that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/i-am-tempted-to-find-reason-and-justice-in-the-fact-that-he-died-as/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [International business may conduct its operations with scraps of paper, but the ink it uses is human blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/international-business-may-conduct-its-operations-with-scraps-of/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [“They don't talk the same language as us. I don't mean that they don't speak English, but that their minds are different. They're like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/they-don-t-talk-the-same-language-as-us-i-don-t-mean-that-they-don-t/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) > [“Your international financier... has no political convictions. For him there is no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest. He believes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ambler/your-international-financier-has-no-political-convictions-for-him/) [Eric Ambler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ambler/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying-civilisation/eric-ambler/#itemlist", "name": "1 Dying Civilisation Quotes By Eric Ambler", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In a dying civilisation, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician but of the man with the best beside manner. It is the decoration conferred on mediocrity by ignorance. Yet there remains one sort of political prestige that may still be worn with a certain pathetic dignity; it is that given to the liberal-minded leader of a party of conflicting doctrinaire extremists. 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