Sometimes we have to do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions, not answers.

It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies?

During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.

A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.

The only reward for love is the experience of loving.

Let's all pretend to be someone else, and then perhaps we'll find out who we are.

I think the greatest single enemy is the misuse of information, the perversion of truth in the hands of terribly skillful people.

The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.

I used to think it was clever to confuse comedy with tragedy. Now I wish I could distinguish them.

Blackmail is more effective than bribery.

A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through bribes and reconstructs it.

You can obsess and obsess over how things ended—what you did wrong or could have done differently—but there's not much of a point. It's not like it'll change anything. So really, why worry?

I go with the flow but I write against it.

We should never argue with the devil about our sins, but we should speak about our sins only with Jesus.

I'm extra-good at wanting things. I want things until I feel sort of sick about them. I want enough for two normal people, at least.

I want to devour you with my eyes, and tell you over and over that you've never been so beautiful.

Crying wouldn't help anything now.

I haven't sat down and memorized the language of Elvish, and anyone who does that is crazy!

You do not know what life means when all the difficulties are removed!

You can achieve great economic gains by solving social problems.

It's possible to climb to the top without stomping on other people.