"Chic, that’s what he is—a barmaid’s dream of a real gentleman."

"What the hell do you think spies are? Model philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl…"

"America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCart…"

"Why was London the only capital in the world that lost its personality at night? Smiley, as he pulled his coat more c…"

"Smiley's People (1982 TV series)"

"Where I kick myself is where I think I actually contributed to the myth of the intelligence services being very good."

"In every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why th…"

"Every writer wants to be believed. But every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credib…"

"I use the furniture of espionage to amuse the reader, to make the reader listen to me, because most people like to re…"

"The State is a dream, too, a symbol of nothing at all, an emptiness, a mind without a body, a game played with clouds…"