People who've had very unhappy childhoods are pretty good at inventing themselves. If nobody invents you for yourself, nothing is left but to invent yourself for others.

Quote by John Le Carre

Topics: John Le Carre Quotes

I don't think that there are very many good writers who don't live without a...

I don't think that there are very many good writers who don't live without a...

Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor...

Most people like to read about intrigue and spies. I hope to provide a metaphor...

Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth, as was...

Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth, as was...

Every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credible than authentic.

Every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credible than authentic.

I don't think it is given to any of us to be impertinent to great...

I don't think it is given to any of us to be impertinent to great...

You should have died when I killed you

You should have died when I killed you

I am still making order out of chaos by reinvention.

I am still making order out of chaos by reinvention.

I think that where I've watched a movie go wrong, it's usually because the dread...

I think that where I've watched a movie go wrong, it's usually because the dread...

Betrayal can only happen if you love.

Betrayal can only happen if you love.

A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through...

A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through...

If I had to put a name to it, I would wish that all my...

If I had to put a name to it, I would wish that all my...

In every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then...

In every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then...

By the age of 9 or 10, I knew that I had to cut my...

By the age of 9 or 10, I knew that I had to cut my...

Betrayal can only happen if you love

Betrayal can only happen if you love

Thank heaven, though, one of the few mistakes I haven't made is to talk about...

Thank heaven, though, one of the few mistakes I haven't made is to talk about...

Americans believe that if you know something, you should do something about it.

Americans believe that if you know something, you should do something about it.

Remember Graham Green's dictum that childhood is the bank balance of the writer? I think...

Remember Graham Green's dictum that childhood is the bank balance of the writer? I think...

Ideologies have no heart of their own. They're the whores and angels of our striving...

Ideologies have no heart of their own. They're the whores and angels of our striving...

I think I'm in the same mood as ever, but in some ways more mature....

I think I'm in the same mood as ever, but in some ways more mature....

We lie to one another every day, in the sweetest way, often unconsciously. We dress...

We lie to one another every day, in the sweetest way, often unconsciously. We dress...