Hand raised

He stood in his stirrups, a hand raised. “The blessing of God upon you brave woman. And the blessing also on you, Ras Flashman, and His mercy and peace.” He wheeled his horse, and as he passed Gorilla Jane and the shattered wreck of Goram, he added: “Throw him on the fire.” So they did.


Flashman on the March, p.192, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, fire.

The lives of thousands

      “You mean you’re game?” cries he eagerly. “You’re with us?”
      “Suppose you tell me why I should be.”
      “How could you not?” Kralta couldn't believe her ears, like a queen with a farting courtier. “With the peace of Europe in the balance, and the lives of thousands, perhaps millions at stake?”


 Flashman and the Tiger, p.90, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, peace.

At peace and dog-tired

…the storm of war and action hurtles you along in blood and thunder, seeking vainly for a hold to cling to, and then the wind drops, and in a moment you’re at peace and dog-tired, with your back to a gun-wheel at Gwalior, or closing your eyes in a corner seat of the Deadwood Stage, or drinking tea contentedly with an old Kirghiz bandit in a serai on the Golden Road, or sitting alone with the President of the United States at the end of a great war, listening to him softly whistle “Dixie”.


Flashman and the Dragon, p.287, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, reflection.

Ill-suited to peacetime

I reflected, watching him that night, how the best soldiers in war are so often ill-suited to peacetime service…

Flashman and the Redskins, p.255, Pan Books edition, 1983.

Tags:Flashman, Flashman quotes, soldier.