Espionage Quotes

“Anyone can deceive us .... for a time.
[KGB]”
― Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin

“Li, a willowy manboy with a shock of black hair atop a mouthful of bad teeth was the brother-in-law he had introduced to industrial espionage several years back. Rong often regretted that.”
― Michael Benzehabe

“Some men will never be heroes, some heroes will never be men, he thought, with urgent acknowledgements to Joseph Conrad.”
― John le Carré, The Russia House

“Caution is a spy’s best friend; paranoia is his enemy.”
― Jack Barsky

“Do not fear those who operate in the shadows”
― Michael Brady, The Fever

“Informants can be helpful, but they are never infallible. All tools can break, or be turned into weapons.”
― Raymond E. Feist, Servant of the Empire

“The common theme here was contempt: a poisonous disregard for human life. For Vladimir Putin’s critics have an uncanny habit of turning up dead.”
― Luke Harding, A Very Expensive Poison: The Definitive Story of the Murder of Litvinenko and Russia's War with the West

“It is often very useful for others to think you less intelligent than you are," Benedict said, his tone amused. "It works particularly well against those who aren't as intelligent as you in the first place.”
― Jim Butcher, The Aeronaut's Windlass

“Misdirection. False signals. Spreading confusion. This is the Tao of deception.”
― David Ignatius, The Quantum Spy

“We all know I won't be killed because of this stupid allegation of espionage, but because I decided to be who I always dreamed. And the price of a dream is always high.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Spy

“Nothing can stop an enemy from picking wireless messages out of the free air - and nothing did.”
― Barbara Tuchman

“After receiving such a warm welcome, it sounded to me like the Directorate of Intelligence had placed me on the CIA’s “don’t screw with this guy list”. This list was something of an urban legend throughout The Company. Once on it, you had it made. Everyone at the CIA would go out of his or her way to be helpful and red tape would magically vanish for you. It meant that you had a very powerful patron at the top levels of the Agency. I may have been hustled out of Headquarters but I apparently still had a very powerful friend in high places.”
― Michael Connick, Trapped in a Hall of Mirrors: How the Luckiest Man in the World Became a Spy

“Now that little problem of yours, this business of not knowing good men from bad men and villains from heroes and so forth...There's still plenty for you to do. And you'll do it. And when you fall in love and have a mistress or a wife and children to look after, it will all seem easier." He opened the door but stopped on the threshold. "Surround yourself with human beings, my dear. They are easier to fight for than principles." He laughed. "But don't let me down and become human yourself. We would lose such a wonderful machine." With a wave of his hand he shut the door.”
― Ian Fleming, Casino Royale

“You don't fight America…You get America’s Democratic and Republican parties to fight each other... and destroy each other. Worst case scenario…the enemy can slip thru the back door while they are fight like third graders.
~~High Commander Mustafa”
― James Morris Robinson, Accelerant...The Sixth Extinction

“In the intelligence community, a rumor was almost as good as a confirmation.”
― Kenneth Eade, Unwanted

“I’m the Deputy Director for Operations.”
“Congratulations. A title so classified you can’t even list it on your resumé when they fire you.”
― Kenneth Eade, Russian Holiday

“The Intelligence Services of East and West have given Europe over fifty years of peace - the longest the Continent has ever known. They did so by keeping their leaders from being surprised.”
― Markus Wolf, Man Without a Face: The Autobiography of Communism's Greatest Spymaster

“This formidable officine dates from Peter the Great, who formed it in 1697...its historic origins must, however, be looked for much earlier; one finds them in the byzantine traditions and in the operations of the Tartar domination...espionage, delation, torture, and secret executions were the normal and regulating instruments of the |||||||| police.”
― Maurice Paléologue

“There were moments when Szara suspected that many idealists drawn to Communism were, at heart, people with an appetite for clandestine life.”
― Alan Furst, Dark Star

“If there's no sea-gull there's no meeting, Wicklow had said. No sea-gull means abort. That's my epitaph, thought Barley. 'There was no sea-gull, so he aborted.”
― John le Carré

“Eyes closed, she let her pain float away with the prayers, higher and higher, around the mosque's minarets, and up to the sky. She thought about the old Arabic saying that a woman has only two exits. One exit leads from my father's house to my husband's. The other leads from my husband's house to my grave. I'm not ready for the second exit yet.”
― Christian F. Burton, Energy Dependence Day

“He tried to recall the look of her eyes the day they first met. He closed his eyes and concentrated, but as he envisioned Kalila's car passing by, he couldn't decide if it was a memory or a dream.”
― Christian F. Burton, Energy Dependence Day

“The professor stared straight ahead. He felt Husam's eyes upon him. He clenched his hands together tightly, lest their shaking reveal everything.”
― Christian F. Burton, Energy Dependence Day

“Welcome to my Goodreads author page! Thank you for stopping by.

My new thriller, THE DEVIL DRAGON PILOT is now available. If you are new to where aviation meets espionage, this is an excellent place to begin.

I have also created a website, complete with a Group Readers Guide and Photos at ColbyAviationThrillers and hope you will stop in. While visiting, you can sign up for my newsletter and receive a special Devil Dragon gift.

Thank you for all of your support!”
― Lawrence Colby

“Attempts on Castro’s Life
According to Castro’s former bodyguard, Fabián Escalante, and Ramiro Valdés, head of the Cuban G-2 secret service, there were a total of 638 attempts to kill the Cuban leader, including the attempt by Marita Lorenz when she concealed the poison capsules in a jar of cold cream, before bringing them into her hotel room. Another time a fungus-impregnated scuba outfit was prepared, expecting that Fidel would wear it. This was followed by an exploding cigar attempt. Still another time, the CIA supposedly impregnated some of Castro’s favorite cigars with botulin, but they never got to him. Cigars as a vehicle to kill Castro were abandoned, when he gave up smoking in 1985.”
― Captain Hank Bracker

“Do you think they’ll ever be a place for us? I mean, do you think there’s a place for someone who lives under the radar, someone who has to pretend, someone who is a spy?”
“Yes.” Daly said it with such confidence that I sat up in my bed, my cast dangling over the edge.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“There has to be. I don’t usually philosophize, but I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“That even when we’re pretending, even when we’re hiding under wigs or accents or clothes that aren’t our style, we can’t hide our nature. Just like I knew from the moment I met you that you would choose this life. And just like I knew, when you told me about this mission, that you would agree to help the CIA find this girl. You would sacrifice yourself and your time with your brother to save someone. It’s just who you are.”
“I’ve already messed things up, Daly. What if I’m not good enough? What if I can’t do it?”
“That’s the thing, though. You’ll find a way.”
I lay back again and buried the side of my face into my pillow. “I’m just not sure how.”
“If you continue to think as you’ve always thought, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got,” Daly said. I considered that. I wasn’t ready to give up. At least not yet. “That one is Itosu wisdom, in case you wondered.”
I yawned into the phone. “It’s good advice.”
“I’ll let you go. You should be resting. Don’t you have school in the morning?” He said the last part in a teasing tone.
“Yeah, if I make it through another day at school. Maybe they’ll get rid of me—kick me out or something. You’d think I would have inherited some of my mom’s artistic genius.”
“Can I give you one last bit of advice, Alex?”
“Sure.”
“Throw it all out the window.”
“What?” I stared at my open window. A slight breeze blew the gauzelike drapes in and out as if they were a living creature.
“Everything you’ve learned about art, the lines, the colors, the pictures in your head from other artists—just throw it all out. And throw out everything you’ve learned from books and simulations about being a good spy. Don’t try to be like someone else. Don’t force yourself to follow a set of rules that weren’t meant for you. Those work for 99.99% of the people.”
“You’re telling me I’m the .01%?” I asked skeptically.
“No, I’m telling you you’re not even on the scale.” Daly’s soft breathing traveled through the phone line. “With a mind like yours, you can’t be put in a box. Or even expected to stand outside it. You were never meant to hold still, Alex. You have to stack all the boxes up and climb and keep climbing until you find you. I’m just saying that Alexandra Stewart will find her own way.”
The cool night air brushed the skin of my arm and I wished it was Daly’s hand instead. “You sure have a lot of wisdom tonight,” I told him. I expected him to laugh. Instead, the line went silent for a moment. “Because I’m not there. Because I wish I was.” His words were simple, but his message reached inside my heart and left a warmth—a warmth I needed.
“Thank you, James.”
“Take care, Alex.”
I wanted to say more, to keep him at my ear just a little longer. Yet the words itching to break free couldn’t be said from over two thousand miles away. They needed to happen in person. I wasn’t going home until I found Amoriel. Which meant I had to complete this mission. Not just for Amoriel anymore. I had to do it for me. (page 143)”
― Robin M. King, Memory of Monet

“The CIA’s offices in London were no secret to the MI6. In fact, the two agencies were practically kissing cousins.”
― Kenneth Eade, Unwanted

“The denials, if they need be given, could better be given with sincerity, and they could only be feigned if you didn’t know them at all.”
― Kenneth Eade, Russian Holiday

“I think Peter was murdered because of what he found out about the company.”
― James Frazee, The Mosquito Bites

“[Blinker] Hall, operating on the quaint theory that the Navy might be needed for battle and that whatever increased the ship's efficiency was a criterion for change, had continued trampling on the toes of orthodoxy.”
― Barbara Tuchman