Home / Quotes / Quote by John le Carre

Quote by John le Carre

“A good man knows when to sacrifice himself, a bad man survives but loses his soul.”

Quote by John le Carre

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. more

You May Also Like

“For better or worse, I've been involved in the description of political conflict.”

Political Involved Conflict Description

Author:John le Carre

“There are some subjects that can only be tackled in fiction.”

Literature Fiction Subjects

Author:John le Carre

“Remember Graham Green's dictum that childhood is the bank balance of the writer? I think that all writers feel alienated. Most of us go back to an alienated childhood in some way or another. I know that I do.”

Thinking Knows Way Feels Remember Childhood Balance Green

Author:John le Carre

“You have no idea how humiliating it was, as a boy, to suddenly have all your clothes, your toys, snatched by the bailiff. I mean we were a middle-class family, it's not as if it was happening up and down the street. It made me ashamed, I felt dirty.”

Ifs Mean Made Ideas Felt Class Boys Streets Middle Clothes Happenings No Idea Dirty Ashamed Middle Class Toys Up And Down Naughty Humiliating Middle Class Family

Author:John le Carre

“I don't know whether it's age or maturity, but I certainly find myself committed more and more to the looser forms of Western democracy at any price.”

Knows Age Form Literature Democracy Western Committed Maturity

Author:John le Carre

“The greatest threat to mankind comes from the renunciation of individual scruple in favor of institutional denominators. . . . Real heroism lies, as it always will, not in conformity or even patriotism, but in acts of solitary moral courage. Which, come to think of it, is what we used to admire in our Christian savior”

Thinking Real Christian Used Lying Individual Moral Mankind Threat Favors Admire Conformity Savior Heroism Solitary Renunciation Moral Courage Scruples

Author:John le Carre

“I can't think of anybody worse to live with.”

Book:The Russia House: A Novel

Source: The Russia House: A Novel

“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.”

“If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.”

Ifs Reason Political Politics Eternal Dozen Doing Nothing

Author:John le Carre

“A great deal has been written about the forthrightness of the moderns shocking the Victorians, but there is no shock like the one which the forthrightness of the Victorians can give a modern.”

Giving Has Beens Deals Written Modern Shock Shocking

Author:Margery Allingham