Home / Authors / John le Carre

John le Carre

John le Carre Quotes

Author

John le Carre, born David Cornwell, is a renowned British spy novel author. Born in October 1931, he is known for his profound insights into the world of espionage and his delicate portrayal of human nature. Le Carre's works are often set against the backdrop of the British intelligence agencies during the Cold War, revealing the complexity and moral dilemmas of espionage activities.

Filter quotes by topic

All Literature Thinking Writing Spy World Book Knows People War Ifs Men Littles Political Secret Way Cold Age Cold War Ends Enemy

Famous John le Carre Quotes

“What do you think spies are: priests, saints and martyrs? They're a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors too, yes; pansies, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives.”

People Thinking Play Fool Saint Vain Priests Cowboy Spy Martyr Rotten Traitor Espionage Drunkards Procession Pansies

Author:John le Carre

“For decades to come the spy world will continue to be the collective couch where the subconscious of each nation is confessed.”

World Nations Decades Collectives Subconscious Spy Couches

Author:John le Carre

“I was the British spy who had come out of the woodwork and told it how it really was, and anything I said to the contrary only enforced the myth. And since I was writing for a public hooked on Bond and desperate for the antidote, the myth stuck.”

Writing Said British Myth Contrary Stuck Desperate Spy Antidote Hooked

Author:John le Carre

“The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was the work of a wayward imagination brought to the end of its tether by political disgust and personal confusion. Fifty years on, I don't associate the book with anything that ever happened to me, save for one wordless encounter at London airport when a worn-out, middle-aged military kind of man in a stained raincoat slammed a handful of mixed foreign change on to the bar and in gritty Irish accents ordered himself as much Scotch as it would buy. In that moment, Alec Leamas was born. Or so my memory, not always a reliable informant, tells me.”

“The trouble is, when professional spies go out of their way to make a definitive statement about one of their own, the public tends to believe the opposite: which puts us all back where we started.”

Way Believe Trouble Opposites Statements Spy

Author:John le Carre

“It was a charming fantasy of romantics that the spies would stop spying, that political conflict would end and politicians would tell the truth. Unfortunately that has not been the case.”

Ends Political Cases Fantasy Democracy Politician Conflict Telling The Truth Charming Spy

Author:John le Carre

“I have a theory which I suspect is rather immoral,' Smiley went on, more lightly. 'Each of us has only a quantum of compassion. That if we lavish our concern on every stray cat, we never get to the centre of things.”

Ifs Compassion Theory Concern Cat Suspects Quantum Centre Immoral Spy Smiley Stray Cats

Author:John le Carre

“Treason is very much a matter of habit, Smiley decided.”

Matter Habit Decided Spy Treason Smiley

Book:Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Source: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

“It's part of a writer's profession, as it's part of a spy's profession, to prey on the community to which he's attached, to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters, whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.”

Thinking Writing Community Secret Information Masters Lonely Profession Translate Spy Prey Readership

Author:John le Carre

“But I think the real tension lies in the relationship between what you might call the pursuer and his quarry, whether it's the writer or the spy.”

Thinking Real Might Lying Tension Spy Quarry

Author:John le Carre

“A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through bribes and reconstructs it.”

Literature Population Stealing Mainstream Spy Bribe

Author:John le Carre

“Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor for the average reader's daily life. Most of us live in a slightly conspiratorial relationship with our employer and perhaps with our marriage.”

People Reader Average Metaphor Daily Life Intrigue Spy Employers

Author:John le Carre

“We have learned in recent years to translate almost all of political life in terms of conspiracy. And the spy novel, as never before, really, has come into its own.”

Years Political Literature Term Novel Conspiracy Translate Spy Political Life

Author:John le Carre

“It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies?”

Book:Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Source: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

“Most of us live in a condition of secrecy: secret desires, secret appetites, secret hatreds and relationship with the institutions which is extremely intense and uncomfortable. These are, to me, a part of the ordinary human condition. So I don't think I'm writing about abnormal things. ... Artists, in my experience, have very little center. They fake. They are not the real thing. They are spies. I am no exception.”

About the Author

Born: October 19, 1931
Known for: Author
Quotes: 178

Related Topics

Literature Thinking Writing Spy World Book Knows People War Ifs Men Littles Political Secret Way Cold Age Cold War Ends Enemy

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyRelated source material

The Honourable SchoolboyRelated source material

The Russia House: A NovelRelated source material

Smiley's PeopleRelated source material

The Constant Gardener: A NovelRelated source material

The Spy Who Came In from the ColdRelated source material

A Most Wanted ManRelated source material

A Murder of QualityRelated source material

A Perfect SpyRelated source material

Absolute FriendsRelated source material

Similar Authors

Guillermo Cabrera InfanteBrowse related quotes
Irwin ShawBrowse related quotes
Manuel PuigBrowse related quotes
Edwin Louis ColeBrowse related quotes
Norman MacCaigBrowse related quotes
Gertrude SteinBrowse related quotes
Jessica SavitchBrowse related quotes
Marilyn vos SavantBrowse related quotes
Lisa GuerreroBrowse related quotes
Lynn AbbeyBrowse related quotes