Quotes from A Prisoner of Birth

Jeffrey Archer ·  501 pages

Rating: (26.7K votes)


“I have discovered with advancing years that few things are entirely black or white, but more often different shades of grey.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“we all suffer in our different ways from being prisoners of birth.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“Are parents always more ambitious for their children than they are for themselves?”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“No, Mr Redmayne, not my tears. Although I've read that letter every day for the past eight months, those tears were not shed by me, but by the man who wrote them. He knew how much I loved him. We would have made a life together even if we could only spend one day a month with each other. I'd have been happy to wait twenty years, more, in the hope that I would eventually be allowed to spend the rest of my life with the only man I'll ever love. I adored Danny from the day I met him, and no one will ever take his place.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“- 'My lord, if a man cannot express his honestly held views in the Central Criminal Court, perhaps you can advise me where else he is free to state that which he believes to be the truth?”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth



“When will the Home Office realize that when judges retire, not only are they sent home for the rest of their lives, but the only people they have left to judge are their innocent wives.'

'So what are you recommending?'asked Alex as they walked into the drawing room.

'That judges should be shot on their seventieth birthday, and their wives granted a royal pardon and given their pensions by a grateful nation.'

'I may have come up with a more acceptable solution,' suggested Alex.

'Like what? Making it legal to assist judges' wives to commit suicide?'

'Something a little less drastic,' said Alex.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“His lectures were always well attended, and not just because he imparted so much wisdom and knowledge: he also managed to do it with humour. It had taken Danny some time to realize that the professor enjoyed provoking discussion and argument by offering up outrageous statements to see what reaction he would arouse from his students.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“He was becoming aware that there was no such thing as over-the-top with Lawrence Davenport, as long as you were talking to Lawrence Davenport about Lawrence Davenport.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“How was it possible that he could handle Swiss bankers, West End impresarios, senior partners and seasoned solicitors, but was a quivering wreck in the presence of this man?”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“I never advise friends to put money in anything,. said Danny. 'It's a no-win situation - if they make a profit they forget that it was you who recommended it, and if they make a loss they never stop reminding you. My only advise would be not to gamble what you can't afford, and never to risk an amount that might cause you to lose a night's sleep”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth



“The solicitor he selected, a Mr Makepeace, had demanded five thousand pounds up front, even before he took the top off his fountain pen, and then another five once he'd briefed Alex Redmayne, the barrister who would represent him in Court. Danny couldn't understand why he needed two lawyers to do the same job.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


“he would have to drop to his knees.”
― Jeffrey Archer, quote from A Prisoner of Birth


About the author

Jeffrey Archer
Born place: in London, The United Kingdom
Born date April 15, 1940
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