I began writing when I was still in the British Foreign Service, and it was then understood that even if you wrote about butterfly collecting, you used another name.
John Le CarreRead
In the hands of politicians grand designs achieve nothing but new forms of the old misery.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that political plans often fail to bring real change, only replacing old problems with new ones.
In this quote, John Le Carre critiques the effectiveness of politicians by asserting that their ambitious plans and reforms tend to simply reiterate past failures, leading to new but similar forms of suffering and dissatisfaction. It speaks to the notion that without genuine intention and integrity, political endeavors can be fruitless, merely masking the persistent issues rather than resolving them.
Themes
PoliticiansDesignsMiseryChangePolitics
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on political reform, this quote could highlight the skepticism towards politicians' promises.
More from John Le Carre
All quotes βIn every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis, the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know.
John Le CarreRead
The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other catβs mat is a story.
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The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous.
John Le CarreRead
Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
John Le CarreRead
If I had to put a name to it, I would wish that all my books were entertainments. I think the first thing you've got to do is grab the reader by the ear, and make him sit down and listen. Make him laugh, make him feel. We all want to be entertained at a very high level.
John Le CarreRead
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We should certainly know by now that it is one thing to overthrow a dictator or repel an invader and quite another thing really to achieve a revolution. Time and time and time again, the people discover that they have merely betrayed themselves into the hands of yet another Pharaoh, who, since he was necessary to put the broken country together, will not let them go.
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If, then, the control of the people over the organs of their government be the measure of its republicanism, and I confess I know no other measure, it must be agreed that our governments have much less of republicanism than ought to have been expected; in other words, that the people have less regular control over their agents, than their rights and their interests require.
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I am never going to have anything more to do with politics or politicians. When this war is over I shall confine myself entirely to writing and painting.
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