John le Carré - Time Quotes

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I think I was born with two — for a writer — lucky skills. One is a very good ear for voice and also a very retentive ear, so that I can recall both accent and words for a long time afterwards. And the other is a wary retention of certain detail-topography, rooms, furniture and so on.

John le Carré

As an intelligence officer in the guise of a junior diplomat at the British Embassy in Bonn, I was a secret to my colleagues, and much of the time to myself.

John le Carré

Graham Greene once referred to a chip of ice that has to be in the writer's heart. And that is the strain: that you must abstain from relationships and yet at the same time engage in them. There you have, I think, the real metaphysical relationship between the writer and the spy.

John le Carré

You can't make war against terror. Terror is a technique of battle. It's a tactic that has been employed since time immemorial. You can conduct clandestine action against terrorists, and that must be done.

John le Carré