A bullet did that

      “Are you sick, farangi? Why do you look away? Does the sight of blood distress you?” I looked up to find the bodyguard leaning on his spear; Portly was off on a frolic of his own, seemingly. “Nay, surely not; you have seen your own blood run from a wound.” He pointed to the star-shaped scar on my hand. “A bullet did that.”
      “A clean wound is one thing soldier,” says I, and nodded towards the Ladies’ De-ballocking Circle. “That is another.”


Flashman on the March, pp.186-7, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, blood.

Wellington's joke

I did my best, and like a fool ventured Wellington's joke when the Queen asked him what was the aroma from the ranks of the Guards, and Nosey replied: “Esprit de corps, ma’am.”


Flashman and the Tiger, p.127, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, esprit de corps.

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.

Paying for policy

“Someone is going to have to pay for that policy sooner or later, I fear—probably someone in a blue coat earning $13 a month to guard his country’s frontier.”

Flashman and the Redskins, p.215, Pan Books edition, 1983.

Tags:Flashman, Flashman quotes, guard.