No-one’s fooled

It was the kind of face-saving settlement that’s arranged daily at Westminister and in parish councils, and no-one’s fooled except the public — and not all of them, either.


Flashman and the Mountain of Light, p.133, Fontana Paperback edition, 1991.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, public.

Pass the marmalade, Amelia

They [the English public] wanted blood, gallons of it, and to read of grape-shot smashing great lanes through Russian ranks, and stern and noble Britons skewering Cossacks, and Russia towns in flames – and they would be able to shake their heads over the losses of our gallant fellows, sacrificed to stern duty, and wolf down their kidneys and muffins in their warm breakfast rooms, saying: ‘Dreadful work this, but by George, England never shirked yet, whatever the price. Pass the marmalade, Amelia; I’m proud to be a Briton this day, let me tell you.’

Flashman at the Charge, p.52, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,Crimean War, blood.

Full of rage and stupidity

The country was full of discontent and mischief, largely because England hadn’t had a real war in forty years, and only a few of us knew what fighting was like. The rest were full of rage and stupidity, and all because some papists and Turkish niggers* had quarrlled about the nailing of a star to a door in Palestine. Mind you, nothing surprises me.

Flashman at the Charge, p.14, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

*Flashman's use of racial epitahs is a continuing problem for more enlightened, contemporary readers. The inclusion of these passages should not be taken as tacit support of his misanthropic, 19th century view of race relations.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,war, stupidity.

Beat the drum

…and when the press starts to beat the drum and the public are clamouring for the foreigner’s blood to be spilled – by someone other than themselves – they have a habit of looking around for their old champions.

Flashman at the Charge, p.12, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,press, public.