{
  "type": "book",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "title": "Smiley's People",
  "slug": "smileys-people",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/smileys-people",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/smileys-people.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/smileys-people.md",
  "author": {
    "name": "John le Carré",
    "slug": "john-le-carre",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre"
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  "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/john-le-carre/smileys-people_978-02-4139-837-1.jpg",
  "quotes_count": 2,
  "quotes": [
    {
      "id": "bbd97c7f-5b97-43cd-a5f3-ebcc073bd2bc",
      "slug": "returning-smiley-approached",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/smileys-people/returning-smiley-approached",
      "text": "Returning, Smiley approached the pavilion through the trees...earnest moral statements enlivened the flaking green paint. \"Punk is destructive. Society does not need it.\" The assertion caused him a moment's indecision. \"Oh, but society does,\" he wanted to reply; \"society is an association of minorities.\"",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "society",
          "slug": "society",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Smiley's_People#Quotes",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:54"
    },
    {
      "id": "07cea0c7-2e6e-4efb-bebd-f5a01a809db6",
      "slug": "on-karla-has",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/smileys-people/on-karla-has",
      "text": "On Karla has descended the curse of Smiley's compassion; on Smiley the curse of Karla's fanaticism. I have destroyed him with the weapons I abhorred, and they are his. We have crossed each other's frontiers, we are the no-men of this no-man's-land.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "fanaticism",
          "slug": "fanaticism",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fanaticism"
        },
        {
          "name": "compassion",
          "slug": "compassion",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion"
        },
        {
          "name": "enemies",
          "slug": "enemies",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/enemies"
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      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Smiley's_People#Quotes",
        "license": {
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          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:54"
    }
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}