Quotes from Tom Clancy

Intelligence people are no different from anybody else. They have preconceptions, and when they see them in real life, it reinforces how brilliant they think they are.

Jack Ryan said, "Benjamin Franklin put it like this: 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

They loved their country largely because they controlled it.

Robert, that's a little too far off the wall, I think," Greer analyzed.

Mr. Ambassador, any person in the United States, regardless of his nationality or the manner of his arrival, is entitled to the full protection of our law. Our courts have ruled on this many times, and under our law no man or woman may be compelled to do something against his will without due process.

ambition on a beer budget.

They were wheels-up in less than fifteen minutes.

never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.

good data organized effectively was the most important commodity for any analyst.

The President was trapped – and with nearly every president, it had come about from his own words. Presidential promises and statements… The people had this annoying way of remembering them. And even if they didn't, there were journalists and political rivals never passed on a chance to make the necessary reminders.

What backed the money was not gold or something of intrinsic value, but rather the collective belief that money had value because it had to have such value.

We cannot fail to win—unless we fail to try.

If the shortest distance to any man's heart is his stomach, then one of the better compliments a man can give a woman is to ask for seconds.

Jack, the world is full of people who can only feel big by making other people look small, and the bigger the target, the better they feel about it.

For over 220 years, Marines have served at the end of America's operational reach—on freedom's far frontiers. These Marines are the backbone of the ARG/MEU (SOC) team, our regional commanders' force of choice for both forward presence and crisis response.

It is estimated that nearly half a billion people tune in for China Central Television's seven p.m. news hour. The fact that all local stations in China are ordered by government mandate to carry the program likely has much to do with this high number, but frequent announcements that the president would be making an important national address this evening ensured even higher ratings than normal.

You may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears. - Winston Churchill

We sink ships and try to pretend that they're just ships—things without people in them. It's dishonest, but we do it anyway.

One of the problems with living in a free country was that anyone outside this palace/prison could think and say whatever he wished.

It's going to be hard writing for you. I can't dip into the usual well. I have to learn to write the way I used to like to write, not the way I'm paid to write

Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make proud, Foley thought.

Ideas are important. Principles are important. Words are important. Your word is the most important of all. Your word is who you are.

Ryan asked, "Is there any economist in the world who correlates Russia's increased authoritarianism with their increased economic growth?" Helen Glass thought for a moment. "Sure, you can find some who will say just that, but remember, there were economists predicting the fall of capitalism and the rise of world communism, even in the eighties." Jack laughed. "Good point. You can always find an expert to confirm your belief, no matter how ridiculous.

Therefore, it is in our mutual interests to cause unrest and chaos within America. The new American president is a weak man.