I was quite able at the insignificant work I did in MI6, but absolutely dysfunctional in my domestic life. I had no experience of fatherhood. I had no example of marital bliss or the family unit.

Give a man a car of his own and he leaves humility and common sense behind him in the garage.

Agents of disruption, subversion, sabotage and disinformation tunnelers and smugglers, listeners and forgers, trainers and recruiters and talent spotters and couriers and watchers and seducers, assassins and balloonists, lip readers and disguise artists.

A good man knows when to sacrifice himself, a bad man survives but loses his soul.

I mean, you can't be less ruthless than the opposition simply because your government's policy is benevolent, can you now?

Each my book feels like my last book. And then I think, like a dedicated alcoholic, that one more won't do me any harm.

Americans believe that if you know something, you should do something about it.