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
I think I'm in the same mood as ever, but in some ways more mature. I guess you could say that, at 65, when you've seen the world shape up as I have, there are only two things you can do: laugh or kill yourself.
Interpretation
Life's challenges can either be met with humor or despair as one gains maturity.
In this quote, John Le Carre reflects on his life experiences and the inevitability of facing hardships as one ages. He emphasizes that maturity comes with a broader perspective on life, leading to a humorous outlook or a dark contemplation of existence, suggesting that laughter is the better choice for coping with the complexities of life.
In practice
During a speech about aging and life experiences.
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.
In 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.
The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.
The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous.
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.
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.
I'll give you some symptoms of a sign that your faith is deteriorating-whenever you face all of your problems and you trust only your plans to get you out-it is a sign that your faith is deteriorating.
Don't borrow someone else's plan. Develop your own philosophy and it will lead you to unique places.
Everybody hates a prodigy, detests an old head on young shoulders.
Dope never helped anybody sing better or play music better or do anything better. All dope can do for you is kill you - and kill you the long, slow, hard way.
Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It's the fear that we're not good enough.
It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.
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