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

I grew up in a completely bookless household. It was my father's boast that he had never read a book from end to end.

Gerald Westerby, he told himself. You were present at your birth. You were present at your several marriages and at some of your divorces, and you will certainly be present at your funeral. High time, in our considered view, that you were present at certain other crucial moments in your history.

Yet it's not for want of future that I'm here, he thought. It's for want of a present.

There's one thing worse than change and that's the status quo.

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

We've had enough." He took back the report and jammed it under his arm. "We've had a bellyful, in fact." "And like everyone who's had enough," said Control as Alleline noisily left the room, "he wants more.