Sharpe's Tiger Quotes

“An army isn’t made of its officers, you know, though we officers like to think it is. An army is no better than its men, and when you find good men, you must look after them. That’s an officer’s job.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Only a fool takes pride in pretending that a skill he doesn’t possess is worthless.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“It was funny, Richard Sharpe thought, that there were no vultures in England.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“The rules were simple: trust no one, be ever watchful and if trouble came hit first and hit hard. It had worked for him so far.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Obadiah Hakeswill had never been concerned by such enmity. Power did not lie in being liked, but in being feared.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“His men howled with him. They were caught up in Baird’s madness. At this hour, under the fire of the sun and emboldened by the arrack and rum they had drunk in their long wait in the trenches, the redcoats and sepoys had become gods of war. They gave death with impunity as they followed a warmaddened Scotsman down an enemy wall that was sticky with blood. Baird would have his city or else he would die in its dust.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“His charms worked, for though the bullets flicked close none hit him. He was the tiger of Mysore, he could not die, only kill.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Passion, Baird reckoned, was what would take men across the river and up the breach. Damn scientific soldiering now. The science of siege warfare had opened the city, but only a screaming and insane passion would take men inside.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Yes, sir," Hicks said. He was a small young man, very officious, who would never contradict a superior. If Morris claimed the clouds were made of cheese Hicks would just stand to attention, twitch his nose, and swear blind he could smell Cheddar.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“You know what circumcision is, Private?”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Just what do you plan to do, Sharpe?" the Lieutenant asked.
"Don’t know, sir. Won’t know till we get there."
"You’re going to the mine?"
"Aye, sir."
"There’ll be guards."
"Like as not."
"And only two of us."
"I can count, sir." Sharpe grinned. "It’s reading I find hard. But my letters are coming on, aren’t they?”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Why do they put cows over the gates, sir?"
"For the same reason we put images of a tortured man in our churches. Religion. You ask too many questions, Sharpe.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“It’ll be an honour to serve you, sir," he added.
"In a French battalion?" Gudin teased him.
"If you don’t flog, sir, and you don’t carve up pricks, then it’ll be more than an honour.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Thousands!" Appah Rao’s tone mocked the claim. "You may have thousands, Colonel, but the Tippoo has tigers.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“So she needs a man!" Hakeswill said. "And a sergeant’s widow doesn’t get rogered by a stinking bit of dirt like you. It ain’t right. Ain’t natural. It’s beneath her station, Sharpie, and it can’t be allowed. Says so in the scriptures.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Ensign Fitzgerald had somehow managed to get himself a jewelled sabre that he was now flashing around like a shilling whore given a guinea fan.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“All that was needed to get ahead in the world was a bit of sense and the ability to kick a bastard faster than the bastard could kick you, and Richard Sharpe reckoned he had those talents right enough.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“(1809)”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Says so in the scriptures,”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Till time ended, Baird suspected, there would be uses for a man and his sword. He”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“They gave death with impunity as they followed a war-maddened Scotsman down an enemy wall that was sticky with blood.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“The Tippoo’s life seemed charmed. He stepped in blood, but none of it was his and it seemed as though he could not die, but only kill, and so he did, cold-bloodedly, deliberately, exultantly defending his city and his dream against the barbarians who had come to snatch his tiger throne.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“The Tippoo should have killed you when he had the chance."
"We all make mistakes, sir.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“I paid him," Lawford said indignantly.
"If you want a job done properly," Sharpe said, "you do it yourself. Hell!”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Lawford shrugged. "She jilted you."
"Easy come, easy go," Sharpe said, then belted the tunic.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“You can’t take a city without shedding blood.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“Bugger Shekhar. How about a bibbi instead?"
"Maybe I’ll read."
"Your choice," Sharpe said carelessly.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“And suddenly, after weeks of thinking about desertion, Sharpe realized that what he had just said was true. He did want to go back to the army, and that knowledge surprised him. The army had bored Richard Sharpe, then done its best to break his spirits. It had even flogged him, but now, standing on Seringapatam’s battlements, he missed the army.
For at heart, as Richard Sharpe had just discovered for himself, he was a soldier.”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“I am never certain that deserters are to be trusted," Gudin said mildly. He was accompanied by a burly French sergeant who kept giving the tigers nervous glances. "If a man can betray one flag," Gudin observed, "why not another?”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger

“You’re a boy playing in men’s games, Sharpie, and you’re going to lose unless you’re a man. Are you man enough to fight me here? Put me down? Claim I was kicked by a horse in the night? You can try, Sharpie, but you’re not man enough, are you?”
― Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Tiger