“ Haydon was more than his model, he was his inspiration, the torch-bearer of a certain kind of English calling which - for the very reason that it was vague and understated and elusive - had made sense… John le Carre
“ There comes a moment for all of us when our childhood ceases to be an excuse. In your case, I would say that, as with many English, the moment is somewhat delayed. John le Carre
“ Ashe was typical of that strata of mankind which conducts its human relationships according to a principle of challenge and response. Where there was softness, he would advance; where he found resista… John le Carre
“ By what route the infant Hansen found his way to the Jesuits, the file did not relate. Perhaps the mother converted. Those were dark years still, and if expediency required it, she may have swallowed… John le Carre
“ Wives? she asked, interrupting him. For a moment, he had assumed she was tuning to the novel. Then he saw her waiting, suspicious eyes, so he replied cautiously, None active, as if wives were volcanoe… John le Carre
“ We have to live without sympathy, don't we? That's impossible of course. We act it to one another, all this hardness; but we aren't like that really, I mean...one can't be out in the cold all the time… John le Carre
“ Some men will never be heroes, some heroes will never be men, he thought, with urgent acknowledgements to Joseph Conrad. John le Carre
“ It comforted the great to deal with it and they knew, a man who could reduce any color to grey. John le Carre
“ He had the nerve not to drink in a University where you proved your manhood by being drunk most of your first year. John le Carre
“ I don't break down, she announced. Got it?He got it. He was already pulling back, looking ashamed of himself, but somehow he was still holding her wrist.I never break down. I'm a lawyer. John le Carre
“ The Secret Intelligence Service I knew occupied dusky suites of little rooms opposite St James's Park Tube station in London. John le Carre
