Curious ceremonial expression

…and the senior men mounted in full fig, wearing that curious ceremonial expression of solemn intensity, as thought they were trying mot to fart.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.286, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, parade.

Bring out the worst

…I’m no great admirer of objects d’art, myself; they just bring out the worst in connoisseurs and female students.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.284, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, connoisseurs.

The great thing about policy

That’s the great thing about policy, and why the world is such an infernal place: the man who makes the policy don’t have to carry it out, and the man who carries it out ain’t responsible for the policy.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.283, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, policy.

Burning down a house

Next to the wreck of a human body, nothing looks so foul as a pretty house in its setting, when the smoke eddies from the roof, and the glare shines in the windows, and the air shakes with heat.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.283, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, wreck.

Papist rituals

…the sight I wouldn’t have missed was Hope Grant taking part in Papist rituals, sprinkling holy water at Montauban’s request, and plainly enjoying it as much as John Knox in a music hall.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.281, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, rituals.

A belted earl

      But I suspect he had another reason, which he may not have admitted to himself: I believe that the Summer Palace offended Elgin; that the thought of so much luxury and extravagance for the pleasure of the privileged, selfish few, while the coolie millions paid for it and lived in squalor, was too much for his Scottish stomach. Odd notion for a belted earl you think? Well, perhaps I’m wrong.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.281, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, stomach.

Odd fish, no vandal

He was an odd fish, was Elgin. He was no vandal, certainly; indeed, bar Wolseley, he was probably the most sincere lover of the arts in the army — not that I’m authority, you understand; give me Rubens and you can keep the rest. So how could he bring himself to destroy so much that was rare and beautiful and valuable? I’ll tell you. He was avenging our dead with cold-blooded fury, striking at their murderers (the Emperor, Sang, Prince I, and — although he didn’t know it — Yehonala, who probably shaped Imperial policy more than all the rest) in the way he knew would hurt them most.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.281, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, vandal.

The mystery that binds

“…no. He’s teaching China. The word will go to the ends of the Empire — how the barbarians came, and smashed the chalice, and went away. And for the first time all China will realise, that they’re not the world’s core, that their Emperor is not God, and that the dream they’ve lived in for thousands of years, is just . . . a dream. Gros was right—it’ll bring down the Manchoos, no error, not today, perhaps not for years, but at last. The mystery that binds China will go up in smoke with the Summer Palace, you see. And just by the way — China will break no more treaties; not in our time.”
      I thought about Yehonala, and wondered if he was right. As it turned out, he was, almost; China was quiet for forty years, until she roused the Boxers against us. And now the Manchoos are gone, and who’ll deny it was the fire that Elgin kindled that made China’s millions think thoughts they’d never thought before?

Flashman and the Dragon, p.279, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, Elgin.

Destruction of the Summer Palace

“I am therefore requesting the Commander-in-Chief —” he nodded towards Grant — “to take the requisite steps for the complete destruction of the Summer Palace.”
      My first thought was that I hadn’t heard right; my second, what a perfectly nonsensical idea: someone murders twenty people, so you plough up his garden.


Flashman and the Dragon, pp.274-5, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, garden.

Experts will tell you

…none of it compared with the black jade chessmen I collared in the Birthday Garden a few days later; no one else would even look at ’em, which showed judgment, since the experts will tell you that black jade doesn’t exist. I don’t mind; all I know is that while Lucknow paid for Gandamack Lodge, those chessmen bought me the place on Berkeley Square.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.270, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, experts.

The effect of plunder

“It’s a marvelous thing, the effect of plunder on soldiers, I suppose they feel real power for once in their wretched lives — not the power to kill, they all know about that, it’s just brute force against a body — but the greater power to destroy a creation of the mind, something they know they could never make."


Flashman and the Dragon, p.267, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, plunder.

Silence and shrewdness

…silence frequently passes for shrewdness, and that while suppressio veri is a damned good servant, suggestio falsi is a perilous master, Selah.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.262, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, shrewd.

Ruffian reporting tips

…you must convince your chiefs that what you’re telling ’em is important, which ain’t difficult, since they want to believe you, having chiefs of their own to satisfy; make as much mystery of your methods as you can; hint what a thoroughgoing ruffian you can be in a good cause, but never forget that innocence shines brighter than any virtue (“Flashman? Extraordinary fellow — kicks ’em in the crotch with the heart of a child)…

Flashman and the Dragon, p.262, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, reporting.

Flashman's pricipal aim

The principal aim, remember, is to win the greatest possible credit to yourself, which calls for not only the exclusion of anything that might damage you, but also for the judicious understatement of those things which tell in your favour, if any; brush’em aside, never boast, let appearances speak for themselves.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.262, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, reporting.

Reporting know-how

      Survival apart, the great thing in intelligence work is knowing how to report.



Flashman and the Dragon, p.262, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, intelligence.

Favours and enemies

…gratitude’s a funny thing; do a favour, and often as not you’ve made an enemy, or at best a grudging friend. Folk hate to feel obliged.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.257, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, gratitude.

Ply the Maltese Cross

There were four new swords against us, and as the Mongol reeled I could only ply the Maltese Cross for my very life (that’s the Afghan’s last resort, an up-down-across pattern that no opponent can get by until you fall down exhausted, which happens after about ten seconds, in my condition).

Flashman and the Dragon, p.256, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, swordplay.

I ain’t Guillaume Danet

…Sang came after me, frothing like a pi-dog. On clear floor I fell on guard, parrying two cuts to take his measure, and my heart leaped as I realized I’d been right in one vital hope — he couldn’t use a sabre to save himself. He was a blind, furious lasher, so I exposed my flank, took a cut on the forte, waited for his lurching recovery, and ran him through the left arm. (I ain’t Guillaume Danet, you understand, but Sang’s swordplay would have broken the troop-sergeant’s heart.)


Flashman and the Dragon, p.255, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, TAGHERE.

Flashy commands

      “Sang-kol-in-sen! That lady and her child are under the protection of Her Majesty’s Government! Molest them at your peril! I speak for Lord Elgin and the British Army, so . . . back off, d’you see?” And for good measure I added: “You dirty dog, you!”


Flashman and the Dragon, p.254, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, protection.

A frenzy of entreaty

      Well, you know what follows when a beautiful young women, threatened by brutal enemies, turns to me in a frenzy of entreaty, hand outstretched and eyes imploring; if she’s lucky I may roar for the bobbies as I slide over the sill.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.254, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, entreaty.

Unguarded opinion

He was a good-looking lad, in a dense, resolute sort of way; Guards officers much the same the world over, I suppose.



Flashman and the Dragon, p.246, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, guard.

Retailing rumours

      “The barbarians! Fly for your lives! They are in the city — the streets run with blood! Everyone is dead, the Temple of Heaven is overthrown, the shops are closed!”

Flashman and the Dragon, p.244, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, barbarians.

As my wife would say

…in fact, he and Grant were just “makking siccar”, as my wife would say…


Flashman and the Dragon, p.239, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, siccar.