Quotes from Old Filth

Jane Gardam ·  260 pages

Rating: (10.6K votes)


“If you've not been loved as a child, you don't know how to love a child.”
― Jane Gardam, quote from Old Filth


“Present us with a silver cup for something when you're a filthy rich lawyer, I dare say? Yes. You'll be a lawyer. Magnificent memory. Sense of logic, no imagination and no brains.”
― Jane Gardam, quote from Old Filth


“She wanted to take his hand. Her hardest task now as she grew older in the Ministry was to deal with her longing to be touched - hugged, stroked by anyone, any human being - a friend, a lover, a child or even (and here she scented danger) a servant. Of either sex. She prayed about it, asking that God's encircling arms would bring comfort. They did not”
― Jane Gardam, quote from Old Filth


“Judges live with shadows behind them.”
― Jane Gardam, quote from Old Filth


“His colleagues at the Bar called him Filth, but not out of irony. It was because he was considered to be the source of the old joke, Failed In London Try Hong Kong. It was said that he had fled the London Bar, very young, very poor, on a sudden whim just after the War, and had done magnificently well in Hong Kong from the start. Being a modest man, they said, he had called himself a parvenu, a fraud, a carefree spirit.
Filth in fact was no great maker of jokes, was not at all modest about his work and seldom, except in great extremity, went in for whims. He was loved, however, admired, laughed at kindly and still much discussed many years after retirement.”
― Jane Gardam, quote from Old Filth



“The landing stage stood on its high crooked stilts with only one person watching the boat disappear round the bend of the river—a girl of twelve called Ada, the wet-nurse’s eldest child. As”
― Jane Gardam, quote from Old Filth


About the author

Jane Gardam
Born place: in Coatham, North Yorkshire, England, The United Kingdom
Born date July 11, 1928
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The longer the wars, the younger the men who must finish them.”
― Billy O'Connor, quote from Confessions of a Bronx Bookie


“Reality doesn't wait for you to be ready for it. It doesn't go away when you tell it to. It's like a persistent mosquito, determined to suck your blood and leave you with a bumpy itch that you can't stop scratching.”
― Holly Bourne, quote from The Manifesto on How to be Interesting


“There are two dedications. The first is Jessica’s. To my precious children, Madalina, Ashur, Isabelle, and Grace, No mother could love her children more than I love you. Each of you is truly a gift from God that I cherish more than anything else in this world. And to Amy Sarah, my Beloved Princess. I only held you once, but you live on forever in my heart. Even you have a story.” Kayne paused and bussed her temple before continuing. “The second dedication is from Darcy’s kids. I may call you Mom, Grandma, Aunt, or some other name, the title doesn’t matter to my heart. It only knows that it loves you. Happy Mother’s Day.”
― Julieanne Reeves, quote from Razing Kayne


“The sun was late, stuck in heavy mist. When it finally broke free there was no one to see, no one to applaud its sterling effort, because everyone in Freemantle was heading west. The burnt orange blaze of dawn made it look like they were fleeing a fire, but all knew that the real conflagration lay ahead.”
― Aaron D'Este, quote from Weapon of Choice


“I wanted solitude, but a treasure like that didn't exist in the city. I only found silence in Central Park, still littered with people of course, but the only place that held moments of calm. I breathed in that wonderful silence as my pace finally slowed, and nature delighted my senses.”
― Lee Matthew Goldberg, quote from Slow Down


Interesting books

Diary of a Wimpey Kid: Roderick Rules
(107.3K)
Diary of a Wimpey Ki...
by Jeff Kinney
The Panopticon
(4.1K)
The Panopticon
by Jenni Fagan
The Paranormal 13
(2.4K)
The Paranormal 13
by C.J. Archer
Mortal Danger
(5.5K)
Mortal Danger
by Eileen Wilks
Just One of the Guys
(14.2K)
Just One of the Guys
by Kristan Higgins
Kisses from Katie: A Young Woman's Journey of Faith A Remote Village A Love without Limits
(23.7K)
Kisses from Katie: A...
by Katie J. Davis

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.