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.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes, reputation.

I’m a soldier, not a diplomat

‘Your highness,’ says I, ‘I can’t talk like Mr Erskine, or Captain Skene even. I’m a soldier, not a diplomat, so I won’t mince words.’ And thereafter I minced them for all I was worth…

Flashman in the Great Game, pp.80-81, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,soldier, diplomat.

Words versus axe-handles

   ‘Well, you can handle a team, surely?’ cries the merry Senator. ‘Why not make your fortune out of axe-handles?’
   ‘Well, sir, I’ll tell you,’ says Lincoln, and everyone listened, grinning. ‘I’ve just put the return on axe-handles at one thousand per centum. But I’m a politician, and sometime lawyer. Axe-handles aren’t my style; my stock-in-trade is spoken words. You may believe me, words can be obtained wholesale a powerful sight cheaper’n axe-handles – and if you take ’em to the right market, you’ll get a far richer return for ’em than a thousand per centum. If you doubt me – ask President Polk.’

Flash For Freedom!, pp.130-31, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes,Abraham Lincoln, words.