Criticism is easy; achievement is difficult.

I feel devoutly thankful to have been born fond of writing.

Put together a seaman, soldier and airman and what do you get? The sum of all fears.

In war, truth is often the first casualty.

There is nothing government can give you that it hasn't taken from you in the first place.

The Pashtun tribes are always engaged in private or public war. Every man is a warrior, a politician and a theologian Every large house is a real feudal fortress....Eve ry family cultivates its vendetta; every clan, its feud....Nothing is ever forgotten and very few debts are left unpaid.

When one is in office one has no idea how damnable things can feel to the ordinary rank and file of the public.