Quotes from Tom Clancy

explained, finally picking

no one rose to exceptional greatness exclusively by being "a good soldier.

substitute hope for expectations, belief for knowledge.

day and then Mom will meet me in Cleveland tomorrow night for the debate on Wednesday. Okay . . . Just wanted to touch base with you. Call me or Mom when you can, okay? Bye." Ryan disconnected the call and tossed

No, those few men and women who went against the establishment from time to time, only when necessary, were what ultimately made America great.

There was reality, and then there was perception, and rarely the two shall meet.

Mark Charon, who had just arrived.

The past happened because a hundred little random things had to fall exactly into place in exactly the right way, in exactly the proper sequence, and while it was easy to accept the good results, one could only rage at the bad ones.

He picked the milk off the porch, and then searched for a moment before finding the newspaper in the bushes near the door. The copy of the International Herald Tribune was wrapped in a plastic bag to protect it from the weather, indicating the paperboy had better sense than he had aim.

Jack ordered a bottle of pinot noir, and they perused the menu while they chatted. "So you were at Georgetown." Melanie said it as a statement.

Nails that stuck out often were hammered back into place.

For a thousand years, without an army or a navy, Iceland had never been attacked.

When the French high command had got wind of the German Schlieffen Plan prior to World War I, their reaction had been, "So much the better for us!" That assault had barely ground to a halt outside Paris. In 1940, the same high command had greeted initial news of another German attack with smiles—and that attack had ended at the Spanish border. The problem was that people tended to wed their ideas more faithfully than their spouses, and the tendency was universal. It

drinking water from streams like animals

Muy bien, jefe

government that had no secrets could not function.

the 'protective' part seriously, 'kay?" John

but cranes can

time was the ultimate commodity, and you were born with only so much to spend, and there was no passbook to tell you the exact amount.

If you don't write it down, it never happened. Cathy (& Jack) Ryan

cool as the smoke off dry ice.

But it could have been worse. He did have a pass to shop for food at the Army–Air Force Exchange Service—otherwise known as the PX at nearby Greenham Commons Air Base—so at least they'd have proper hot dogs, and brands that resembled the ones he bought at the Giant at home in Maryland.

you respect a man who says what he believes, even if you disagree with it?

can't take him up there for a short haircut." Hallston smiled coldly. "I doubt anyone