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Bernard Cornwell Quotes
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Bernard Cornwell, is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has written historical novels primarily on English history in five series, and one series of contemporary thriller novels. A feature of his historical novels is an end note on how they match or differ from history, and what one might see at the modern sites of the battles described. He wrote a nonfiction book on the battle of Waterloo, in addition to the fictional story of the famous battle in the Sharpe Series. Two of the historical novel series have been adapted for television: the Sharpe television series by ITV and The Last Kingdom by BBC. He lives in the US with his wife, alternating between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina. Wikipedia  

✵ 23. February 1944   •   Other names برنارد کرنول
Bernard Cornwell photo
Bernard Cornwell: 175   quotes 1   like

Bernard Cornwell Quotes

“If you capture a ship, Sharpe, you keep the old name unless it's really obnoxious. Nelson took the Franklin at the Nile, an eighty gun thing of great beauty, but the navy will be damned if it has a ship named after a traitorous bloody Yankee so we call her the Canopus now.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Joel Chase, p. 15
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Trafalgar (2000)

Beauty

“Poor bloody Dale, Sharpe thought, to be betrayed in his first battle. If he survived he would be invalided out of the army. His broken body, good for nothing, would be sent to Lisbon and there he would have to rot on the quays until the bureaucrats made sure he had accounted for all his equipment. Anything missing would be charged to the balance of his miserable wages and only when the account was balanced would he be put onto a foul transport and shipped to an English quayside. There he was left, the army's obligation discharged, though if he was lucky he might be given a travel document that promised to reimburse any parish overseer who fed him while he traveled to his home. Usually the overseers ignored the paper and kicked the invalid out of their jurisdiction with an order to go and beg somewhere else. Dale might be better off dead than face all that.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe, commenting on the fate of a wounded Soldier, p. 105
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Sword (1983)

Travel , Home , Dead

“He could chafe against the rich and privileged but he acknowledged that the army had taken him from the gutter and put an officer's sash round his waiste and Sharpe could think of no other job that would offer a low-born bastard on the run from the law the chance of rank and responsibility.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 13
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Eagle (1981)

Law , Thinking , Chance

“The more I see of families … the happier I am to be an orphan.”

Bernard Cornwell

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

Family

“Sharpe could feel the excitement of the Company, their confidence, and he marvelled at it. They were enjoying it, taking on sixteen times their number, and he did not understand that it was because of him. Harper knew, Knowles knew, that the tall Rifle Captain who was not given to rousing speeches could nevertheless make men feel that the impossible was just a little troublesome and that victory was a commonplace where he led.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 68
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Gold (1981)

Men , Feeling , Confidence , Understanding

“This evening, he planned to make Sharpe drunk. He planned to force the grief out into the open and he would do it as the Irish knew how to do it, with a wake. […] A wake, a decent, drunken, laughing wake. Hogan had ordered Harry Price to attend and he would force Sharpe to drink, to talk, to remember Teresa, and in the morning the grief would already be turning into healthy regret.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Michael Hogan, p. 344
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Enemy (1984)

Drink

“"She's like a woman, sir, take care of her and she'll take care of you." "You'll notice he let Mister Sharpe do the ramming, sir."”

Bernard Cornwell

Rifleman Hagman and Sergeant Patrick Harper, p. 188
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Havoc (2003)

“Remember, Mr Sharpe, an officer's eyes are more valuable than his sword!”

Bernard Cornwell

General Arthur Wellesley, p. 61
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Eagle (1981)

“He asked three things of his men. That they fought, as he did, with a ruthless professionalism. That they stole only from the enemy and the dead unless they were starving. And that they never got drunk without his permission.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 15
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Eagle (1981)

Men , Dead

“"The rules of chivalry, my lord, ensure my protection." "Chivalry? Chivalry? I have heard it mentioned in songs, madame, but this is war. Our task is to punish the followers of Charles of Blois for rebelling against their lawful lord. Punishment and chivalry do not mix."”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

Jeanette, the Countess of Armorica and Sir Simon Jekyll, p. 64
The Grail Quest, The Archer's Tale/Harlequin (2000)

War , Law

“She had been restless and forceful, a killer of the border hills, yet she had a childlike faith in love. She had given herself to him and never doubted the wisdom of the gift as he had sometimes doubted it. She had kept the faith, and she was dead.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Richard Sharpe (describing his murdered wife, Teresa Moreno) p. 339
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Enemy (1984)

Love , Wisdom , Faith , Dead

“The Rifles were a new kind of regiment, prizing skill and intelligence above blind discipline.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)

Intelligence

“"They're not going, sir. Not going South." "And who made that decision, Sergeant?" "We all did, sir." "Since when, Sergeant, has this army been a… a democracy?" "A what, sir?" "Since when did Sergeants outrank Lieutenants?"”

Bernard Cornwell

Sergeant Williams and Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 40
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Rifles (1988)

Democracy , Decision

“A Frenchman cried and Connelly squatted beside him, took the man's hand, and talked of Ireland. He told the uncomprehending Frenchman of Connaught's beauty, of its women, of fields so fat that a lamb was full grown in a week, of rivers so thick that the fish begged to be caught, and the Frenchman quieted and Connelly patted his hair and told him he was brave, and he was proud of him, and beyond the small grating the sky darkened into dusk and the orderlies came down again and dragged the Frenchman, who had died, head-bumping up the steps.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 184
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Sword (1983)

Women , Beauty , Fish

“Sharpe had been turbulent, ambitious, but one day, Hogan supposed, that restlessness would have found satisfaction. Then, curiously, Hogan found himself resenting Sharpe, resenting him because he had been killed and was thus denying his friendship to those who still lived.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Michael Hogan, commenting on Sharpe's apparent death, p. 179
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Sword (1983)

Friendship

“"Our guide, a fisherman. A good fellow." "He doesn't hate us?" "Hate us?" "I keep being told how the Spanish hate us, sir." "He hates the French, like I do, Sharpe. If there is one constancy in this vale of tears, it is always hate the damned French, always."”

Bernard Cornwell

General Thomas Graham and Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 126
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Fury (2006)

Hate , Tear

“Forrest saw the war as a moral crusade, a fight for decency and order, and victory to the British would mean that the Almighty, who could not possibly be suspected of Republican sentiments, had blessed the British effort.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Joseph Forrest, p. 162
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Company (1982)

War , Effort , Victory , Fight

“"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

“"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)

“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 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

“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

“We have honour, Sharpe. That is our private strength, our honour. We're Soldiers, you and I. We cannot expect riches, or dignity, or continual victory. We will die, probably, in battle, or in a fever ward, and no one will remember us, so all that is left is honour.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Kearsey
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Gold (1981)

Victory

“The Light Company were not worried by the French. If Richard Sharpe wanted to lead them to Paris they would go, blindly confident that he would see them through”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 36
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Gold (1981)

Confidence , Light

“All gunners were deaf, they said. They were the kings of the battlefield and they never heard the applause.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 249
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Honor (1985)

“The British army fought against other infantry arrayed in two ranks and every man could use his musket, and if cavalry threatened they marched and wheeled into a square of four ranks, and still every man could use his musket, but the soldiers at the heart of the two French columns could never fire without hitting the men in front.”

Bernard Cornwell

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

Men , Heart

“What we should have done, lads, is gone north.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, p. 290
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Rifles (1988)

“The Tippoo himself led the defenders north of the breach. The Tippoo had cursed Gudin for blowing the mines too early and thus wasting its terrible destructive power, but now he tried to revive the defense by his personal example. He stood in the front rank of his soldiers while behind him a succession of aides loaded jewel-encrusted hunting rifles. One by one the rifles were given to the Tippoo who aimed and fired, aimed and fired, and redcoat after redcoat was struck down.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 351
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)

Success , Personality

“Of all the ridiculous, unnecessary, stupid things, the Horse Guards had sent tents! Soldiers had always slept in the open! Sharpe had woken in the morning with his hair frozen to the ground, had woken with his clothes sopping wet, but he had never wanted a tent! He was an infantryman. An infantryman had to march, and march fast, and tents would slow them down.”

Bernard Cornwell

Major Richard Sharpe, p. 40
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Honor (1985)

Stupidity , Horse , Clothes

“Patrick Harper was an Ulsterman from Donegal and had been driven into the ranks of Britain's army by hunger and poverty. He was a huge man, four inches taller than Sharpe who was himself six feet tall. In battle Harper was an awesome figure, yet in truth he was a kind, humorous and easygoing man whose benevolence disguised his life's central contradiction, which was that he had no love for the king for whom he fought and for the country whose flag he defended, yet there were few better soldiers in all King George's army, and none who was more loyal to his friends.”

Bernard Cornwell

Narrator, p. 19
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Battle (1995)

Love , Life , Hunger , Truth

“It turns out that the Danish gunboats are rather better than ours. They draw less water and carry heavier ordnance and the results are not at all pretty.”

Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Prey (2001)

Water , Drawing

“I think the French are interested only in food and wine', Vicente said.
'I can think of something else,' Sharpe said, and received a stern look from Sarah.
'There is no food here, … just higher things.”

Bernard Cornwell

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

Food , Thinking , Wine

“Put a British Soldier in a wilderness and he would soon discover a taproom.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 54
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Fury (2006)

“You want a blessing, my son? Then God give strength to your bow and add bite to your arrows! May your arm never tire and your eye never dim. God and the saints bless you while you kill!”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

English Prior, p. 54
The Grail Quest, Vagabond (2002)

God

“He had been a tough, cheerful youngster, the sort who collected birds' eggs, scrapped with other boys and climbed the church tower on a dare, and now he was a tough cheerful young man who thought that being an officer in Lawford's regiment was just about the finest thing life could afford. He liked soldiering and he liked soldiers.”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Jack Bullen, p. 307
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)

Life , Boy , Bird

“A soldier's death, he thought, was a happy one, because a man, even in the throes of awful pain, would die in the best company of the world.”

Bernard Cornwell

General Thomas Graham, p. 234
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Fury (2006)

Death , Pain , World , Happiness

“"You had no choice, sir." "There's always a choice."”

Bernard Cornwell

Lieutenant Robert Knowles and Captain Richard Sharpe on the destruction of Almieda's magazine, p. 239
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Gold (1981)

“If I take a man into battle, my lord, i like to offer him a better than even chance that he'll march away with his skin intact. If I wanted to kill the buggers I'd just strangle them in their sleep. It's kinder.”

Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe, p. 88
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Battle (1995)

Sleep , Chance

“There's a great bloody mine, sir! Just waiting to kill our lads! I ain't letting that happen. You can do what you bloody well like, but I'm going to kill some more of these bastards.”

Bernard Cornwell

Private Richard Sharpe, p. 329
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Tiger (1997)

Waiting

“I do not approve of you, Thomas, and I do not approve of your woman, but nor can I approve of a Church that uses pain to bring the love of God to a sinful world. Evil begets evil, it spreads like a weed, but good works are tender shoots that need husbandry.”

Bernard Cornwell The Grail Quest

Abbott Planchard, p. 212
The Grail Quest, Heretic (2003)

Love , God , Pain , World