John le Carre

My definition of a decent society is one that first of all takes care of its losers, and protects its weak. ↗

— John le Carre

#decent #definition #first #first of all #losers

Once you've lived the inside-out world of espionage, you never shed it. It's a mentality, a double standard of existence. ↗

— John le Carre

#espionage #existence #inside-out #lived #mentality

People who've had very unhappy childhoods are pretty good at inventing themselves. If nobody invents you for yourself, nothing is left but to invent yourself for others. ↗

— John le Carre

#good #had #invent #inventing #invents

Thank heaven, though, one of the few mistakes I haven't made is to talk about the unwritten book. ↗

— John le Carre

#book #few #haven #heaven #i

The Cold War was over long before it was officially declared dead. ↗

— John le Carre

#cold #cold war #dead #declared #long

The Secret Intelligence Service I knew occupied dusky suites of little rooms opposite St James's Park Tube station in London. ↗

— John le Carre

#intelligence #james #knew #little #london

The world of spying is my genre. My struggle is to demystify, to de-romanticise the spook world, but at the same time harness it as a good story. ↗

— John le Carre

#good #good story #harness #same #spying

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

— John le Carre

#only #some #subjects #tackled

To give the best of the day to your work is most important. ↗

— John le Carre

#day #give #important #most #work

Totalitarian states killed with impunity and no one was held accountable. That didn't happen in the West. ↗

— John le Carre

#happen #held #impunity #killed #states