John le Carré: Quotes about people

John le Carré is British novelist and spy. Explore interesting quotes on people.

John le Carré: 84 quotes4 likes

“We were not faced (in the cold war) in a conflict with people who are prepared to die for their cause. We weren't in conflict with people whose idea is to kill as many as they could.”

Radio interview (November 2008)

“Because we are so unfamiliar with the motivation of the people we are dealing with, we are more afraid of them than we need to be.”

Radio interview (November 2008)

“Smiley's People (1982 TV series)”

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“Who do you think spies are: priests, saints and martyrs? They’re a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors, too, yes; pansies, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives. Do you think they sit like monks in London balancing the rights and wrongs? I’d have killed Mundt if I could, I hate his guts; but not now. It so happens they need him. They need him so that the great moronic mass that you admire can sleep soundly in their beds at night. They need him for the safety of ordinary, crummy people like you and me.”

Source: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963), p.231