I think that most of my books are part of some process of self-education, often about the places I go to. Most… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
You have no idea how humiliating it was, as a boy, to suddenly have all your clothes, your toys, snatched by the… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
The cold war provided the perfect excuse for Western governments to plunder and exploit the Third World in the name of freedom;… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
I mean, you can't be less ruthless than the opposition simply because your government's policy is benevolent, can you now? — John le Carre Copy Share Image
When I was 16 or 17, anyone could have had me if they sang the right song and recruited me in the… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
I made an awful mess of my first marriage. It was hard to live with me being me. I was so abnormal.… — John le Carre 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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
Ideologies have no heart of their own. They're the whores and angels of our striving selves. — John le Carre Copy Share Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
