The American people must be willing to give up a degree of personal privacy in exchange for safety and security.

Collecting intelligence information is like trying to drink water out of a fire hydrant. You know, in hindsight It's great. The problem is there's a million dots at the time.

My role and my obligation was to conduct criminal investigations.

Ask the American public if they want an FBI wiretap and they'll say, "no." If you ask them do they want a feature on their phone that helps the FBI find their missing child they'll say, "Yes."

I was a prosecutor and an FBI agent for many, many years.

The fraudster's greatest liability is the certainty that the fraud is too clever to be detected.

And I understand that, I testified in closed hearings over eight years because there are intelligence matters, there are sensitive matters that should not be held in a public hearing.

The State Department said the countries that are most stealing our best ideas also are our best allies.

I wanted all my visits to be official. When I sent the pass back with a note, I had no idea it would antagonize the president. I found out years later that it did.

I doubt that Congress would pass on the opportunity to make sure that our children were safe from terrorists.

The country was not focused on terrorism before September 11th.

Life is neither a party nor pain. But a prayer.

I never wanted to see half the things I've seen, and I've never seen half the things I wanted to. I don't think wanting comes into it. You'd best go all the same.

Acting is divine dissatisfaction. It's the greatest thing in the world to do, but you are never satisfied with it ever.

The more I learn about stuff the more conscious I become of grave gaps in my knowledge.

You learn every single day when youre running a company. You learn as you go.

I never drink. I cannot do it, on equal terms with others. It costs them only one day; but me three, the first in sinning, the second in suffering, and the third in repenting.

I've gradually risen from lower-class background to lower-class foreground.

Whatever is not stone is light

I can't explain inspiration. A writer is either compelled to write or not. And if I waited for inspiration I wouldn't really be a writer.

The taxing power is especially something after which the reformer's finger always itches.