He shrugged his shoulders to shift the pain of failure – the pain that is so much greater than the pleasure of success.
Shaken and not stirred.
And people with obsessions, reflected Bond, were blind to danger.
Mine’s Bond – James Bond.
Just as, at least in one religion, accidia is the first of the cardinal sins, so bordom, and particularly the incredible circumstance of waking up bored, was the only vice Bond utterly condemned.
I don’t regard James Bond precisely as a hero, but at least he does get on and do his duty, in an extremely corny way.
I’m not in the Shakespeare stakes. I have no ambition.
If I wait for the genius to come, it just doesn’t arrive.
There is only one recipe for a best seller and it is a very simple one. You have to get the reader to turn over the page.
Above all, he liked it that everything was one’s own fault. There was only oneself to praise or blame. Luck was a servant and not a master. Luck had to be accepted with a shrug or taken advantage of up to the hilt. But it had to be understood and recognized for what it was and not confused with a faulty appreciation of the odds, for, at gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck. And luck in all its moods had to be loved and not feared.
I don’t drink tea. I hate it. It’s mud. Moreover it’s one of the main reasons for the downfall of the British Empire. Be a good girl and make me some coffee.
When the odds are hopeless, when all seems to be lost, then is the time to be calm, to make a show of authority – at least of indifference.
Never send a man where you can send a bullet.
You start to die the moment you are born. The whole of life is cutting through the pack with death. So take it easy. Light a cigarette and be grateful you are still alive as you suck the smoke deep into your lungs. Your stars have already let you come quite a long way since you left your mother’s womb and whimpered at the cold air of the world.
Then he slept, and with the warmth and humour of his eyes extinguished, his features relapsed into a taciturn mask, ironical, brutal, and cold.
You never get real adventures without a bit of risk somewhere.
It was a room-shaped room with furniture-shaped furniture, and dainty curtains.
Because people are very careful with the secrets of their own business doesn’t mean that they’ll be careful with the secrets of yours.
For an instant he felt nettled at the irony, the lightest shadow of a snub, with which she had met his decisiveness, and at the way he had risen to her quick glance. But it was only an infinitesimal clink of foils and as the bowing maitre d’hotel led them through the crowded room, it was forgotten as Bond in her wake watched the heads of the diners turn to look at her.
Continue, my dear friend. It is interesting for me to see this new Bond. Englishmen are so odd. They are like a nest of Chinese boxes. It takes a very long time to get to the centre of them. When one gets there the result is unrewarding, but the process is instructive and entertaining. Continue. Develop your arguments. There may be something I can use to my own chief the next time I want to get out of an unpleasant job.’ He grinned maliciously. Bond ignored him.