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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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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Whippet good

And with that I slipped out the door, pulled it to, and was off like a stung whippet.

Flash For Freedom!, p.231, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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The noble art of survival

It was touch and go at this point whether I launched myself head first through the open window or not; for a moment it seemed that the wiser course might well be headlong flight. But then I steadied. I cannot impress too strongly on young fellows that the whole secret of the noble art of survival, for a single man, lies in knowing exactly when to make your break for safety.

Flash For Freedom!, p.132-33, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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No good to Flashy

It was nip and tuck like a steeplechase, with the shots crashing and echoing and thousands of voices yelling; only once did I check for an instant, when I saw young Lieutenant Sturt shot out of his saddle; he rolled into a drift and lay screaming, but it would have done no good to stop. No good to Flashy, anyway, and that was what mattered.

Flashman, p.195, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

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