Charles E. Gannon Quotes

Riordan almost smiled. “You sound like another historian I know.”
“Historian?” She stiffened. “I am an observer. I do not claim to convey a unified story, just the pieces for which I have data.”

Besides being grossly unprofessional and misinformed, just why is that a relevant inquiry?

Your conjecture is reasonable but inaccurate.

Caine has a serious flaw when it comes to working for the government.
"Which is?"
"Well, he has this real bad habit of telling the truth.

All enlightenment begins in ignorance and humility. This place has been a constant instruction in both.

Weiner-Kutkh waved airily. “I seem to have been born lucky.”
“Said every cheater who’s ever lived,” Caine retorted.

That’s one thing I’ve noticed about war, Richard: there’s always more than enough irony to go around.

The total lack of information is a kind of information in itself.

Virodok!" exclaimed Sukhinin, who sounded short of breath. "Do you monsters hold nothing dear beyond yourselves?"
"No, we do not, and that is the source of our power: to reject the delusion that any human, anywhere, at any time, actually does anything or feels anything that they believe is not, at some level, in their own interest.

Damn it, Dad. You make me crazy."
"That's part of my job as a parent. If I read the manual correctly.

I guess that, living in a sanitized world, you’ve forgotten this basic lesson: if you want to stay free or stay alive, never play by your opponent’s rules. Particularly when your opponent is more powerful than you are. Do the unexpected. Turn on your pursuer. Attack the attacker.

Careful now: just the way you rehearsed it. Use as much truth as possible: that’s how you’ll get away with the lies.

If there are any competent journalists here, I’m ready for their inquiries.

It seems to me that you counted on the idiom of speech to mislead the Ambassador, to invite him to presume that they were not interested in hearing your discourse."
Riordan shrugged. "Guilty as charged. But there is a big difference between lying and using language that will trick the incautious. More importantly though, if the Ktor are going to wholly ignore the rules of fair and honest communication, then I'd say we're on pretty firm ethical ground if we simply decide to play by the letter, not the spirit, of those rules.

Well, so be it. Today we only have time for the truth. Battles are won by facts and physics, not self-congratulatory ideology.