Bernard Cornwell: Trending quotes (page 5)

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“"They'll bloody kill you." "Maybe they'll turn and run. "God save Ireland, and why would they do that?" "Because God wears a green jacket, of course."”

Bernard Cornwell

Sergeant Patrick Harper and Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 29
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Havoc (2003)

God

“Sharpe had seen columns before, and was puzzled by them. […] These columns had around forty men in a rank and twenty in each file. The French used such a formation, a great battering block of men, because it was simpler to persuade conscripts to advance in such an array and because, against badly trained troops, the very sight of such a great mass of men was daunting. But against redcoats? It was suicide.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 226
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Havoc (2003)

Men , Suicide , Training

“"The door is locked, Captain." "Then I'll break it down." "It is a shrine." "Then I'll say a prayer of forgiveness after I've knocked it down."”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Pedro Ferreira and Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 13
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

Forgiveness

“Made in Sheffield, and guaranteed never to fail! Good slicer this is, real good. You can cut a man in half with one of these if you get the stroke right.”

Bernard Cornwell

Daniel Fletcher, describing his 1796 light cavalry sabre, p. 207
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Triumph (1997)

“The Marques' thought he had the Rifleman beaten, but all he had done was to make the Rifleman fight. This no longer looked like a duel to d'Alembord; it looked like a brawl leading to slaughter.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Peter d'Alembord, p. 65
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Honor (1985)

Fight

“Most of the men don't like officers up from the ranks, but they're kind of fond of Sharpe. He scares them. They want to be like him.'
'I can't see that scaring men is a virtue in an officer.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

Men

“The Hanoverian knew the cavalry was no danger. It was the infantry, the unstoppable red-jacketed infantry, that was going to beat him […] He stared at the 78th and he reckoned that no force on earth could stop such men. "The best damn infantry on earth. Watch them! You'll not see better fighting men while you live!"”

Bernard Cornwell

Sergeant Anthony Pohlmann, p. 271
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Triumph (1997)

Men , Fight

“The Tippoo still led the fight. […] Those gaudy stones made him a target for every redcoat and sepoy, yet he insisted on staying in the very front rank where he could pour his rifle fire at the stalled attackers, and his charms worked, for though the bullets flicked close none hit him. He was the Tiger of Mysore, he could not die, only kill.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 358
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)

Fight

“Did you see that wee church in Salamanca where the Virgin's statue had eyes that moved? Your priest there said it was a miracle, but you could see the string the fellow jerked to make the wooden eyeballs twitch! But why go to the trouble of having a string? I asked myself. Because the people want a miracle, that's why. And just because some people invent a miracle doesn't mean there aren't real ones, does it? It means the opposite, so it does, for why would you imitate something that doesn't exist?”

Bernard Cornwell

Sergeant Patrick Harper, p. 186
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Rifles (1988)

People , Jerk

“He wondered again, for the hundredth hundredth time, why these men, reckoned by their country to be the dregs of society, fought so well, so willingly, so bravely.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Leroy, p. 265
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Honor (1985)

Men , Time , Country

“The defenders were hunted down and killed. Even when they tried to surrender, they were killed, for their fortress had resisted and that was the fate of garrisons that showed defiance.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 283
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Fortress (1999)

Fate

“Chase was easy in command and that ease did not diminish his authority, but simply made the men work harder. […] Sharpe watched Chase for he reckoned he had still a lot to learn about the subtle business of leading men. He saw that the Captain did not secure his authority by recourse to punishment, but rather by expecting high standards and rewarding them. He also hid his doubts.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 178
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Trafalgar (2000)

Men , Business , Learning

“"Your nephew plays." "My nephew and his friends practice." "He would do better to look to his soul." "He has no soul, he's a soldier."”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

Father Roubert and the Count of Berat, p. 33
The Grail Quest, Heretic (2003)

Soul

“You want me to go into a sewer, Mister Sharpe?' Sarah asked in a small voice.
'No, miss, I don't', Sharpe said. 'I want you to be in green fields and happy, with enough money to last you the rest of your life. But to get you there I have to go through a sewer.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

Life , Money , Happiness

“"What do you think?" "Sir?" "Frightening? Did you ever learn mathematics?" "Yes, sir." "So add up how many Frenchmen can actually use their muskets."”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe and Ensign Denny, commenting on an approaching French column, a formation that only allows the front rank to fire, p. 220
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Eagle (1981)

Mathematics , Thinking , Learning

“You can keep your sword, for you fought proper. Like a proper soldier. Take your blade to paradise, and tell them you were killed by another proper soldier.”

Bernard Cornwell

Private Richard Sharpe to the Tippoo Sultan, p. 372
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)

“They haven't made an armor strong enought to resist an English arrow.”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

Thomas of Hookton, p. 89
The Grail Quest, The Archer's Tale/Harlequin (2000)

Strong

“It's a real language lesson', said Sarah after a while.
'I'm sorry, miss', Sharpe said.
'You sort of don't notice when you're in the army', Harper explained.
'Do all soldiers swear?'
'All of them', Sharpe said. 'All of the time.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

Time

“Learning is sacred … it goes above boundaries.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

Learning

“He was confused. He was in love with a woman he did not know, except he knew her loyalty was to the enemy. Yet Denmark did not feel like an enemy, though it was. And he was a Soldier still, and Soldiers, he reckoned, fought for those who could not fight for themselves, and that meant he should be fighting for Astrid's folk and not his own. But that was too great a wrench to contemplate.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 136
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)

Love , Feeling , Fight , Loyalty