Believe him

‘What did he tell you?’
       ‘Well,’ said Mr Franklin, searching for something that would bear repetition, ‘he did mention that he had been a peace officer in an American cattle-town, but I wasn’t entirely sure whether I should believe him.’
      ‘Oh, that’s true enough,’ said Fisher. ‘Anything he tells you is liable to be true — and the unlikelier it sounds the more true it probably is. He’s been everywhere, done everything — amazing old bird.’


Mr American, p.189, Pan Books, paperback edition 1982.



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A pint of port

So there he was, reputation blasted, and nothing for it, you’d have thought, but to order a pint of port and a pistol for breakfast or join the Foreign Legion.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.247, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, port.

My desperate reputation

They [the press] were never rash enough to suggest I should have command, but seemed to have in mind some auxiliary post of Slaughterer-General, as befitting my desperate reputation.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.46, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.



Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, reputation.

Madmen with a mission

      Looking back on life, I guess I can’t complain on the whole, but if I have a grievance against Fate, it’s that I seem to have encountered more than my fair share of madmen with a mission. Perhaps I’ve been unlucky, or possibly most of mankind is deranged; maybe it was my stalwart bearing, or my derring-do reputation, but whatever it was, they came at me like wasps to a saucer of jam.

Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, p.98, Harper Collins, 1995.


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No currency

Reputation and credit, there’s no currency to touch them.



Flashman and the Mountain of Light, p.355, Fontana Paperback edition, 1991.



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Two little words

      Well, I always say, credit and cash, you can never have too much of either...



Flashman and the Dragon, p.145, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



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Shirking, running, diving into cover

If you’ve read my earlier memoirs you’ll know all about it — how by shirking, running, diving into cover, and shielding my quaking carcase behind better men, I had emerged after four campaigns with tremendous credit, a tidy sum in loot, and a chestful of tinware.

Flashman and the Dragon, p.10, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.

Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, credit.

Birth of a cricketer

...Rugby taught me only two things really well, survival and cricket, for I saw even at the tender age of eleven that while bribery, fawning, and deceit might ensure the former, they weren’t enough to earn a popular reputation, which is a very necessary thing. for that, you had to shine at games, and cricket was the only one for me.

Flashman's Lady, p.12, Pan edition, 1979.

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Weighted words

It’s truly remarkable, if you choose a few words carefully, how you can enhance your reputation and damage someone else’s…

Flashman in the Great Game, p.195, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes, reputation.

The Flashman reputation

As so often in the past, I was the victim of my own glorious and entirely unearned reputation – Flashy, the hero of Jallalabad, the last man out of the Kabul retreat and the first man into the Balaclava battery, the beau sabreur of the Light Cavalry, Queen’s Medal, Thanks of Parliament, darling of the mob, with a liver as yellow as yesterday’s custard.

Flashman in the Great Game, p.36, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,reputation, beau sabreur.

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.

No thank'ee

As one of the former bright particular stars of the cavalry, who had covered himself with glory from Kabul to the Khyber, and been about the only man to charge in the right direction at Chillianwallah (a mistake, mind you), I wouldn’t be able to say, ‘No, thank’ee, I think I’ll sit out this time.’ Not and keep any credit, anyway. And credit’s the thing, if you’re as big a coward as I am, and want to enjoy life with an easy mind.

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

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,cavalry, Chillianwallah.

Reputation, good or bad

But you will have noticed, no doubt, that when a man has a reputation, good or bad, folk will always delight in adding to it…”

Flashman, p.250, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes.

Give me the shadow

All I could see was that somehow appearances were heavily on my side – and who needs more than that? Give me the shadow every time, and you can keep the substance – it’s a principle I’ve followed all my life, and it works, if you know how to act on it.

Flashman, p.244, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes.

Everyone's pet

That lifted my spirits a little, and I thought, aye, give a dog a good name and he’s everyone’s pet.

Flashman, p.164, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,good name, dog.