In every operation there is an above the line and a below the line. Above the line is what you do by the book. Below the line is how you do the job.

Fools, most linguists. Damn all to say in one language, so they learn another and say damn all in that.

We have learned in recent years to translate almost all of political life in terms of conspiracy. And the spy novel, as never before, really, has come into its own.

But I think the real tension lies in the relationship between what you might call the pursuer and his quarry, whether it's the writer or the spy.

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

God is in his Heaven and the first night was a wow.

Unfortunately it is the weak who destroy the strong.