Never to be seen again

Word came just then that Masteeat was expected hourly, and Warkite was off like a rising grouse, never to be seen again.



Flashman on the March, p.282, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


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Flashman and the avoidance of Powerpoint

. . . I tried to run, my wounded leg gave way beneath me, and I went head-first into a large rock by the wayside and lost all interest in the proceedings.



Flashman on the March, p.265, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


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A fleeing Flashy

Ask any man who’s been hit foursquare by a fleeing Flashy, fourteen stone of terrified bone and muscle, and he’ll agree that it’s a moving experience . . .



Flashman on the March, p.240, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


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Little runaway

      “And the little juggins ran away, on the train last night?”
“Greased lightnin’ off a shovel,” says she cheerfully.


Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, p.294, Harper Collins, 1995.


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Size of a tangerine

All kind of mad fancies flit by — not to be taken seriously, you understand, but food for wild imaginings — like bleaching your hair and striking out for Valparaiso under the name of Butterworth and never looking near England again . . . two million quid, Lord love us! Aye, but d’you dispose of a diamond the size of a tangerine?

Flashman and the Mountain of Light, p.314, Fontana Paperback edition, 1991.



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Decamp, squeal, or betray

      It’s a remarkable thing (and I’ve traded on it all my life) that a single redeeming quality in a black sheep wins greater esteem than all the virtues in honest men—especially if the quality is courage. I’m lucky, because while I don’t have it, I look as though I do, and worthy souls like Carson and Wootton never suspect that I’m running around with my bowels squirting, ready to decamp, squeal, or betray as occasion demands.

Flashman and the Redskins, p.206, Pan Books edition, 1983.

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Built like a champion middleweight

      Now, you know what I think of mortal combat. I’ve run from more than I can count, and never lived to regret it, and this lean ten stone of quivering fighting fury, obviously as nimble as a weasel and built like a champion middleweight, was the last man I wanted to try conclusions with—well, I’d been ill.

Flashman and the Redskins, p.157, Pan Books edition, 1983.

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Half the art

      If half the art of survival is running, the other half is keeping a straight face. I can’t count the number of times my fate has depended on my response to some unexpected and abominable proposal—like the night Yakub Beg suggested I join a suicidal attempt to scupper some Russian ammunition ships, or Sapten’s jolly notion about swimming naked into a Gothic castle full of Bismark’s thugs, or Brooke’s command to me to lead a charge against a headhunter’s stockade. Jesu, the times we have seen.

Flashman and the Redskins, p.43, Pan Books edition, 1983.

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My strongest suit

Still, it’s odd that I never got my tongue around it, for apart from fleeing and fornication, slinging the bat* is my strongest suit; well, I speak nine languages better than natives, and can rub along in another dozen or so.


*Speaking the local language (Brit. Army slang)

Flashman and the Redskins, p.17, Pan Books edition, 1983.

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The Flashman Gambit

…suddenly I saw that there was only one way, and a slender hope at that, but it was that or unspeakable death. The Flashman Gambit – when in doubt, run.

Flashman's Lady, p.271, Pan edition, 1979.

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Usually at high speed

[Lord Raglan]‘…In that time, I believe, you have travelled widely?’
    Usually at high speed, thinks I, and not in circumstances I’d care to tell your lordship about…

Flashman at the Charge, p.30, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,high speed, travel.

Outside the covers of Hansard

You will wonder, if you’ve read my earlier memoirs (which I suppose are as fine a record of knavery, cowardice and fleeing for cover as you’ll find outside the covers of Hansard), what fearful run of ill fortune got me to Balaclava at all.

Flashman at the Charge, p.11, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,Hansard, Balaclava.

Fast moves

   ‘My God!’ he cries. ‘Betrayed!’
    Well, I’d heard the same sort of exclamation before, and I’ve heard it since, and there’s no doubt it’s unnerving. But I doubt if there’s a man living who can move faster with his pants round his ankles than I can…

Flash For Freedom!, p.187, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes.