A Murder of Quality
John le Carré
Top 10 Best Quotes
“All men are born free: just not for long.”
“It was from us they learnt the secret of life: that we grow old without growing wise. They realized that nothing happened when we grew up: no blinding light on the road to Damascus, no sudden feeling of maturity.”
“I used to think it was clever to confuse comedy with tragedy. Now i wish i could distinguish them.”
“Smiley himself was one of those solitaires who seem to have come into the world fully educated at the age of eighteen. Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession. The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man who, like Smiley, has lived and worked for years among his country's enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim, he learns to love the crowds who pass him in the street without a glance; he clings to them for his anonimity and his safety. His fear makes him servile - he could embrace the shoppers who jostle him in their impatience, and force him from the pavement. He could adore the officials, the police, the bus conductors, for the terse indifference of their attitudes. (ch. 9)”
“He hated to be alone, but people bored him. Being alone was like being tired, but unable to sleep.”
“Smiley was not opposed to social distinctions but he liked to make his own.”
“Only adults had nervous breakdowns in those days, so the methods of survival for boys who refused to join the system were animal cunning, “internal immigration” as the Germans call it, or simply getting the hell out. I practised the first two, then opted for the third and took myself to Switzerland.”
“It was like feeding a small child. You couldn't over load the spoon.”
“We just don't know what people are like, we can never tell; there isn't any truth about human beings, no formula that meets each one of us.”
“There was a fellow called Smiley married Ann Sercomb, Lord Sawley’s cousin. Damned pretty girl, Ann was, and went and married this fellow. Some funny little beggar in the Civil Service with an OBE and a gold watch. Sawley was damned annoyed.”
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Book Keywords:
class, education-system, equality
