348 Quotes by John le Carré

It is said that men condemned to death are subject to sudden moments of elation; as if, like moths in the fire, their destruction were coincidental with attainment.

Good intelligence work, Control had always preached, was gradual and rested on a kind of gentleness.

Women are lawless George', she had told him once, when they lay in rare peace. 'So what am I?' he has asked, and she said 'My law'. 'So what was Haydon?' he had asked. And she laughed and said, 'My anarchy.

You could be the perfect spy. All you need is a cause.

Spying is waiting.

He was learning to live on several planes at once. The art of it was to forget everything except the ground you stood on and the face you spoke from at that moment.

Look, we are getting to be old men, and we've spent our lives looking for the weaknesses in one another's systems... Don't you think it's time to recognise that there is as little worth on your side as there is on mine?

There is a kind of stupidity among the drunks, particularly when they are sober...

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