The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.

Power expands through the distribution of secrecy.

Let's all pretend to be someone else, and then perhaps we'll find out who we are.

In every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis, the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know.

Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.

Without a pen in my hand I can't think.

[My novels] introduce levels of intelligence ... moral doubt [and] self-doubt, which may not pertain [to real-world espionage].