Zitate von John le Carré
John le Carré
Geburtstag: 19. Oktober 1931
John le Carré ist ein britischer Schriftsteller. Nachdem er selbst für die britischen Geheimdienste MI5 und MI6 gearbeitet hatte, wurde er seit den 1960er Jahren durch seine Spionageromane bekannt. Anfänglich spielten sie zumeist im Klima des Kalten Krieges und rankten sich um die Figur des Geheimagenten George Smiley. Ab den 1990er Jahren griffen le Carrés Thriller auch andere Themen wie die Verstrickung von Politik und Wirtschaft auf. Seine Werke wurden vielfach verfilmt.
Zitate John le Carré
„[…] das ist meiner Ansicht nach ein so großes Verbrechen, dass ich dafür keine Entschuldigung finde.“
über Folter, Stern Nr. 46/2008 vom 6. November 2008, S. 182 http://www.stern.de/kultur/buecher/john-le-carr233-wenn-du-nicht-fuer-uns-bist-bist-du-gegen-uns-645240.html
„Die Amerikaner haben keinen großen Respekt vor der nationalen Psyche anderer Völker gezeigt. Weil sie grundsätzlich denken, dass jeder so sein will wie die Amerikaner. Das halte ich, gelinde gesagt, für ein Problem.“
Stern Nr. 46/2008 vom 6. November 2008, S. 185 http://www.stern.de/kultur/buecher/2-john-le-carr233-wenn-du-nicht-fuer-uns-bist-bist-du-gegen-uns-645240.html
„Wenn jemand Folter unterstützt, ist er keiner näheren psychologischen Betrachtung wert.“
Stern Nr. 46/2008 vom 6. November 2008, S. 180 http://www.stern.de/kultur/buecher/john-le-carr233-wenn-du-nicht-fuer-uns-bist-bist-du-gegen-uns-645240.html
„Never trade a secret, you'll always get the short end of the bargain.“
— John le Carré, buch The Mission Song
The Mission Song (2006)
„I think what gives my works whatever universality they have is that they use the metaphysical secret world to describe some realities of the overt world.“
As quoted in "Master of the Secret World: John le Carré on Deception, Storytelling and American Hubris" by Andrew Ross, in Salon (21 October 1996); also in Conversations with John le Carré (2004) edited by Matthew Joseph Bruccoli and Judith Baughman, p. 141
Kontext: I use the furniture of espionage to amuse the reader, to make the reader listen to me, because most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor for the average reader's daily life. Most of us live in a slightly conspiratorial relationship with our employer and perhaps with our marriage. I think what gives my works whatever universality they have is that they use the metaphysical secret world to describe some realities of the overt world.
„America has entered one of its periods of historical madness“
"The United States of America Has Gone Mad" (2003)
Kontext: America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War.
„There's one thing worse than change and that's the status quo.“
— John le Carré, buch Smiley's People
Smiley's People (1979)
„We were both hybrids: I by birth, he by education. We had both taken too many steps away from the country that had borne us to belong anywhere with ease.“
— John le Carré, buch The Mission Song
The Mission Song (2006)
„He worked for the fleshy side of the Foreign Office and his job consisted of lunching visiting dignitaries whom no one else would have entertained in his woodshed.“
— John le Carré, buch Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
„Luck's just another word for destiny…either you make your own or you're screwed.“
— John le Carré, buch The Mission Song
The Mission Song (2006)
„A good man knows when to sacrifice himself, a bad man survives but loses his soul.“
— John le Carré, buch The Mission Song
The Mission Song (2006)
„You see a lot — your eyes get very painful.“
— John le Carré, buch Smiley's People
Smiley's People (1979)
„Peace, gentlemen, it is well known, does not come of its own accord, and neither does freedom. Peace has enemies. Peace must be won by the sword.“
— John le Carré, buch The Mission Song
The Mission Song (2006)
„Nothing in life… even a few broken bones, is without its reward.“
— John le Carré, buch The Mission Song
The Mission Song (2006)
