“He has a saying: he'll only believe what can be written on a postcard.” — John le Carré Copy Share Image
“A good writer is an expert on nothing except himself. And on that subject, if he is wise, he holds his tongue.… — John le Carré Copy Share Image
It is my writing dilemma. The world of spying is my genre. My struggle is to demystify, to de-romanticise the spook world,… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
It's a principle of mine to come into the story as late as possible, and to tell it as fast as you… — John le Carre Copy Share Image
I've never been able to write a book without one very strong character in my rucksack. — 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
