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

“Yes, I'm shallow, I don't mind admitting it. Perhaps I should admit that there's no end to the depths of my shallowness.”
― Franny Billingsley, quote from Chime


“Here is another marvy glimpse into the gothic basement that I call my mind.”
― Louise Rennison, quote from Away Laughing on a Fast Camel


“All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find.”
― Dylan Thomas, quote from A Child's Christmas in Wales


“You—you’re what’s important. Music will never be more important than you.”
― Emily Snow, quote from Consumed


“She smiled at and spoke to each person. It was as though she couldn't come into contact with anyone or anything without imparting some of her goodness onto them.”
― Michelle Leighton, quote from Fragile


Interesting books

Angels Flight
(34.6K)
Angels Flight
by Michael Connelly
Right Ho, Jeeves
(19.8K)
Right Ho, Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
A Day No Pigs Would Die
(8.3K)
A Day No Pigs Would...
by Robert Newton Peck
While I Live
(6.1K)
While I Live
by John Marsden
The Darkest Whisper
(37.8K)
The Darkest Whisper
by Gena Showalter
Komarr
(12K)
Komarr
by Lois McMaster Bujold

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.