12 quotes
Libraries are the font of civilization, do you not agree?
Basil's War (2021)
If you want truth, look for it in the dirt. The dirt never lies.
Basil's War (2021)
“I hope I’m smart enough to stay up with all these wrinkles, gentlemen. I already have a headache.”
“Welcome to the world of espionage,” said Sir Colin. “We all have headaches.”
Basil's War (2021)
They love to cooperate with the Brits because the Brits give them so much equipment which can either be sold on the black market or used against their domestic enemies after the war. So, they will always jump lively for the SOE, because the loot is too good to turn down.
Basil's War (2021)
Sometimes it’s damned hard to keep straight, but one thing all the people in this room agree on: the moment the rope snaps hard about Herr Hitler’s chicken neck, the next war begins, and it is between we of the West and they of the East.”
Basil's War (2021)
That is the way of the wickedness called war. It eats us all. In the end, it and it alone is the victor, no matter what the lie called history says. The god of War, Mars the Magnificent and Tragic, always wins.
Basil's War (2021)
The whole expressed the complexity, the difficulty, the arrogance, the insolence, the ego, the whole je ne sais quoi of the French, their smug, prosperous country, their easy treachery, their utter lack of conscience, their powerful sense of entitlement.
Basil's War (2021)
I doubt I’ll be allowed to make the trip. The path to Jesus would include sobriety, a clean mind, obedience to all commandments, a positive outlook, respect for elders, regular worship, and a high level of hygiene. I am happily guilty of none of those.
Basil's War (2021)
It somehow caught enough illumination from the stars to gleam a bit, though without romance or beauty. It simply reminded him of unpleasant things and his aversion to large bodies of the stuff, which to him had but three effects: it made one wet, it made one cold, or it made one dead. All three were to be avoided.
Basil's War (2021)
“He has made himself useful to his masters for many years as a ‘talent spotter,’ that is, a man who looks at promising undergraduates, picks those with sound nerves, keen policy minds, and good connections, forecasts their rise, and woos them to his side as secret agents with all kinds of bubbly of the sort that appeals to the mushy romantic brain of the typical English high-born idiot.”
Basil's War (2021)
Kavandish, the Army muckity-muck, had a face that showed every emotion from A all the way to A-. It was a mask of meat shaped in an infantry square such as those at Waterloo and built bluntly around two ball bearings, empty of light, wisdom, empathy, or kindness, only registering force.
Basil's War (2021)
They were, mostly, just cops. And they brought cop attributes to their new headquarters: dyspepsia, too much smoking, cheap suits, fallen feet, a deep cynicism about everything but particularly human nature, and even more particularly notions of “honor,” “justice,” or “duty.” They did believe passionately in one cause, however: staying out of Russia.
Basil's War (2021)