All belly and beard

Admiral Tegethoff, a bluff old sport, all belly and beard, munched her knuckles and gave glad welcome to the begrimed and ragged peon whom she presented as the hoch und wohlgeboren Sir Harry Flashman, former aide, champion, and all-round hero of the campaign . . .



Flashman on the March, p.5, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, champion.

This means nothing to me

 . . . the whole quarter reeked of money, privilege, and luxury in doubtful taste. It was reckoned to be the richest Upper Ten outside London, and the two hundred families of princes, counts, and assorted titled trash spent ten million quid among ’em per annum, which ain’t bad for gaslight and groceries. They spent more, ate more, drank more, danced more, and fornicated more than any other capital on earth (and that's Fetridge* talking, not me) . . .

*Footnote 23. W. Pembroke Fetridge was the author of The American Traveller's Guide: Harper's Handbook for Travellers in Europe, which first appeared in 1862. Flashman probably had the 1871 edition.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.185, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, Vienna.

A sneer or a sniff

. . . and this I'll say for them, there wasn't a sneer or a sniff at my tweeds, such as you'd get from Frogs or Dagoes or our own reptilia; Vienna wasn't only polite, it was downright friendly and hospitable, putting a glass in my hand, coaxing me to the buffet, inquiring after my journey, asking how long I'd been in town . . .


Flashman and the Tiger, p.186, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


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Flashman, ein Englander and ein Edelmann

      “Wer ist es?” says a female voice, and not knowing the German for Roger the Lodger I said it was Flashman, ein Englander and ein Edelman, and a pal of Blowitz's.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.65, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


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Those fortunate few

…if life has taught me anything, it’s that the wealth and comfort of the fortunate few (who include our contented middle classes as well as the nobility) will always depend on the sweat and poverty of the unfortunate many, whether they’re toiling on plantations or licking labels in sweat shops at a penny a thousand. It’s the way of the world, and until Utopia comes, which it shows no sign of doing, thank God, I’ll just rub along with the few, minding my own business.



Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, p.22, Harper Collins, 1995.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, life.

The leading aristocrats

Since most of the leading aristocrats held high military rank, and took their duties seriously in a pathetically incompetent way (just like our own really), I gradually became acquainted – not to say friendly – with the governing class.

Flashman's Lady, p.236, Pan edition, 1979.

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The effects of English aristocracy on India

It’s different now, of course; since it became a safe place many of our best and most highly-connected people have let the light of their counternances shine on India, with the results you might expect – prices have gone up, service has gone down, and the women have got the clap.

Flashman in the Great Game, p.58, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,English, India.

Cardinal folly

Master Ignatieff might be a clever and devilish dangerous man, but he had at least one of the besetting weaknesses of youth: he was as vain as an Etonian duke, and it led him to commit the cardinal folly in a diplomatic man. He talked too much.

Flashman at the Charge, p.207, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,vain, youth.

Pink-cheeked viscounts

Oh, I had my fighting reputation, but what’s that, when London is bursting with pink-cheeked viscounts with cleft-palates and long pedigrees?

Flashman at the Charge, p.29, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,viscount, cleft palate.

Ain't such a thing

She, the little ninny, was all for it, giving him a dazzling smile and protesting he was too, too kind – this aged satyr who was old enough to be her father and had vice leering out of every wrinkle in his face. Of course, where climbing little snobs like Elspeth are concerned, there ain’t such a thing as an ugly peer of realm…

Flashman at the Charge, p.27, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,peer, ugly.

The greatest bore

…so I joined the Board of Ordnance. And it was the greatest bore, for his lordship proved to be one of those meddling fools who insist on taking an interest in the work of committees to which they are appointed – as if a lord is ever expected to do anything but lend the light of his countenance and his title.

Flashman at the Charge, p.16, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,aristocracy, nobleman.

Spoilt child of fortune

His nose was beaky and his eyes blue and prominent and unwinking - they looked out on the world with the serinity that marks the nobleman whose uttermost ancestor was born a nobleman too. It is the look your parvenu would give half his fortune for, that unruffable gaze of the spoilt child of fortune who knows with unshakable certainty that he is right and that the world is exactly ordered for his satisfaction.

It is the look that makes underlings writhe and causes revolutions. I saw it then , and it remained changeless as long as I knew him, even through the roll-call beneath Causeway Heights when the grim silence as the names were shouted out testified to the loss of five hundred of his command. 'It is no fault of mine,' he said than, and he didn't just believe it; he knew it.



Flashman, p. 31, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, James Brudenell, Lord Cardigan.