(re an antique book on his desk) Oliver, would you mind leaving that alone? It's not mine, and it's worth half the gross national product.
Characters
George SmileyAlec Guinness · 14 quotes
Toby EsterhaseBernard Hepton · 10 quotes
Saul EnderbyBarry Foster · 3 quotes
Most scenes together: George Smiley & Toby Esterhase (5), George Smiley & Saul Enderby (2)
(on Guillam's Porsche) What a perfectly revolting little car! How ever will we all fit in?
You remember the first rule of retirement, George? No moonlighting, no fooling with loose ends, no private enterprise, ever. You remember who preaches this rule, at Sarratt, in the corridors? George Smiley did. Quote, "When it's over, it's over. Pull down the shutters, go home," unquote. We're over, George. We've got no license. They don't want us anymore.
Grigorieva got herself a driving license two months ago. And she's terrible! Terrible, like lousy. You know what Pauli Skordeno says to me? He says, "Toby, I need danger money just to follow that woman."
He's so conspicuous he's embarrassing.
Well, they like the guy, George. You know how watchers are, it's like or hate all the time. They like him.
(on Karla's defection) George, all your life! Fantastic!
(reading) "Karla's signal referred me to several émigré families who might be persuaded by pressure to adopt such an agent as their own child, since blackmail is considered preferable to bribery." Damn right it is. Cheers. At the present rate of inflation, blackmail's about the only thing that keeps its value.
VCVillem Craven
I ask him, "Vladimir, who knows I do this for you?" "Only Mikhel, a very little," he said. "Mikhel is my friend. But even to friends, we cannot trust." "Enemies I do not fear," he said, "but friends, I fear greatly."
CSConnie Sachs
Is that booze you're toting in your pocket, or a bloody great gun?
It's fatal either way.
CSConnie Sachs
Oh, goody, let's have lots!
This an interrogation, George?
You know me, Toby.
Sure I know you. You want matches so you can burn my feet?
George, do me a favor, okay? You want a Hungarian babysitter someday, call me. You go messing around with creeps like Kirov and Leipzig, you better have a creep like Toby look after you. You're an old spy in a hurry, George. You used to say they were the worst.
Oh they are, Toby, they are.
FFerguson
I'm still on the side of the angels.
I didn't know we had any angels.
In my time, Peter Guillam, I've seen Whitehall skirts go up and come down again. I've listened to all the excellent argument for doing nothing, and reaped the consequent frightful harvest. I've watched people hop up and down and call it progress. I've seen good men go to the wall and the idiots get promoted with a dazzling regularity. All I'm left with is me and thirty-odd years of cold war without the option.
PGPeter Guillam
So what does that mean in little words?
It means that if a rogue elephant, to use Saul Enderby's happy phrase, charges at me out of the thicket of my past and gives me a second shot at it, I intend to shoot it dead - but with the minimum of force.
It's simply a question of whether your Service wants the product. I can't see that anything else is ultimately of very much importance.
Can't you, by God! Oh, I want him all right. I want the Mona Lisa, and the Chairman of the Chinese People's Republic, and next year's winner of the Irish Sweep. I want Karla sitting in the hot seat at Sarratt, coughing out his life story to the inquisitors. I want the American Cousins to eat out of my hand for years to come. I want the whole ball game, of course I do.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Smiley's People pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.