Don't mistake

      Why, Flashy, you ask, this ain’t pity or sentiment, surely? Not a bit of it: don’t mistake disgust and contempt for the tormentor with compassion for the victim.


Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, p.339, Harper Collins, 1995.


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Suppressing wickedness

      ‘Oh, aye – we hear much of them, and how the company suppressed their wickedness. And why – because they slew travellers, or was it because they served a Hindoo god and so offended the Christian Company?’ She eyed me contemptuously. ‘Belike had the Thugs been Jesus-worshippers, they would have been roaming yet – especially if they had chosen Hindoo victims.’
      You can’t argue with gross prejudice, so I looked amiable…

Flashman in the Great Game, p.91, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

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Disciples of Jesus

‘I tell you, sir, to listen to some of our friends, I could believe every plantation and barracoon from Florida to the river is peopled by the disciples of Jesus. Reason tells me this is false; the slave being God’s creature and a human soul, is no better than the rest of us. But if I said as much to Cassius Clay he would try to prove me wrong at the point of his bowie knife.’

Flash For Freedom!, p.129, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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Killing gents

In a novel, of course, or a play, murders are committed so; the villain leers and gloats, and the victim pleads. In my practical experience, however, killing gentlemen like de Gautet are far too practiced for such nonsense; they shoot suddenly and cleanly and the job’s done.

Royal Flash, p.177, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1978.

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