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Sometimes she thought Alec was right—you believed in things because you needed to; what you believed in had no value of its own, no function.

— John le Carré The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)

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More quotes by John le Carré

But so many men learnt strength during the war, learnt terrible things, and put aside their knowledge with a shudder when it ended.

A Murder of Quality (1962)

Such an effort being with people—on stage all the time.

A Murder of Quality (1962)

The fact that you can only do a little is no excuse for doing nothing.

A Most Wanted Man (2008)

He possessed, however, that persistent inquisitiveness which for journalists and lawyers is an end in itself.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)

I thought it would be valuable to record the events—even if they did not take place.

Call for the Dead (1961)

All John le Carré quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John le Carré (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.