Charles E. Gannon Quotes

Riordan surveyed the scene again. Knowing that it could not be other than perfect made it seem less remarkable, much in the way a constructed vista in a theme park could never quite compare with a less perfect one discovered in nature. This was merely a technological achievement, and the price of its perpetual perfection was its inability to inspire a sense of grandeur.

“Did he just wink?” whispered Downing.
“If not, he developed a very timely facial tic,” Caine replied.

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

That means we have nothing to shoot at, no efficacious response. So we do something pointless. And we feel better.

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.

“On the surface, it’s crazy, right?”
“It’s crazy down beyond the surface, too,” Dora affirmed.

And saying that doesn't get you in trouble, does it?
His smile broadened. "Nope. Not a bit." He straightened up, stuck out his hand. "I'm glad I was able to come and give you the inside scoop on—absolutely nothing. And on the people who have absolutely nothing to do with it."
Caine smiled. "Your failure to impart any information has been very illuminating.

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

We need no technological assistance. Hkh'Rkh capabilities and engineering is unsurpassed.
Yaargraukh managed to keep his tongue from writing out in a spasm of grim hilarity. "I have heard others say the same thing."
"And your response to them?"
"That their empty rhetoric is delusional lunacy spoken as truth.

After all, an agent on the inside of a rival organization was always worth more, operationally speaking, than a loyal servitor in one’s own.

Damn, muttered Opal, staring after him, guess he flunked charm school.

How would you answer their demand for justice and vengeance?
"I would begin by insisting that justice and vengeance are different. Vengeance is often blind to reason: all it can see is the object it hates. Conversely, justice is blind to our preferences and prejudices; all it may see are the deeds and the conditions under which they were carried out.

The reality, both now and historically, was that whatever the future held, change was always uneven in distribution and irregular in timing.

“Is Glamqoozht just a place name or does it mean something?”
“It translates imperfectly as Council Hub.”
Riordan was guardedly hopeful. “Sounds like it’s a place to get questions answered and decisions made.” Unless, of course, it was like human capitals.

When such leaders act in opposition to their sworn duties, they compound injustice with disgrace.