Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Leaks are always bad news.
I believe in much more diplomacy, not less.
I've moved on to Plan B now, writing novels.
There is not adequate whistleblower protection.
I think feeling bitter or angry is really useless.
We need the best and the brightest to go into public service.
I was working for the CIA and prohibited from speaking publicly.
The truth is, as long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not safe.
I have always been appalled by the depiction of female CIA operatives.
I come from a family in which public service was something to aspire to.
The great thing about fiction is you can fix things and make things better.
I'm not terribly confrontational, but I've gotten better at holding my ground.
I think human intelligence is the only one that will actually tell you intent.
A chief of station is the head of all intelligence operations in any given country.
Privatization is more efficient and effective in some cases, but not in intelligence.
We've made some good beginnings with the New START Treaty, but a lot more can be done.
Our mission was to make sure that the bad guys, basically, did not get nuclear weapons.
I want to shine a spotlight on showing how dangerous Trump and his Twitter button can be.
I do not subscribe to the 'Trump is crazy like a fox' thing. I think that's being too generous.
I really believe the nexus of terrorism and nuclear weapons is the world's most ominous threat.
One characteristic that I hope I never relinquish is an intense curiosity about the world around me.
To my knowledge, no one has died from a cyberattack... but there is a gray area between peace and war.
I certainly didn't reach out to my old assets and ask 'em how they're doing, although I would have liked to.
The fundamental problem is not that Trump has access to the nuclear launch codes, but that they exist at all.
I know having a Jason Bourne all alone in a field firing at bad guys is much more dramatic, but it's not real.
I did a book event with a former colleague, Bob Bauer, and was so relieved that he said I got all the CIA stuff right.
Of course, we all watch James Bond with envy - knowing the U.S. government would never pay for the lifestyle he enjoys.
The options are war versus peace, and I am delighted that, so far, it appears that peaceful negotiation has won the day.
North Korea is the errant teenage child, aren't they? Or toddler - they're holding their breath until they get their way.
Of course we wish that more people involved in the leak of my true CIA identity had been prosecuted, but the system worked.
Hillary stood with us, as she has stood with so many over the years, and we are proud to stand with her for our country now.
After President Obama's election in 2008, there was a widespread hope that it would mark an end to unseemly partisan nastiness.
I think the Bush Administration was bound and determined on regime change, and we will be paying the price of that for some time to come.
I didn't appreciate how special and sometimes strange my CIA world was - until it suddenly and spectacularly ended in a newspaper column.
I would never jeopardize classified information. I served my country well and loyally, and I had to sue the C.I.A. on First Amendment grounds.
Certainly, if we had not invaded Iraq on intelligence that was clearly manipulated and cherry picked, we would be in a different position today.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which in 1996 set out to ban nuclear tests, is an important step, but we need to do more - and we can.
There is no question that what we are seeing - the horrible advance of ISIS - goes back, if you will, to the original sin of the invasion of Iraq.
When I was outed on July 14th, 2003, I was, until that moment, covert. That means no one outside of a very small circle knew where I really worked.
We in no way are naive to think that just because Russia and the United States agree to reduce their arsenals, that everyone else will fall in line.
I've been working with Global Zero. They are a great organization leading the resistance against nuclear war and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
In the CIA, they recruit you to be an officer, an ops officer, in part due to how well you cope with stress and how well you adapt to new situations.
When an issue is so fraught with partisanship, a special counsel provides some modicum of transparency and accountability rather the the veil of politics.
After I resigned, I could eventually speak for myself, but when it first happened, I was in complete shock, and it took a long time for me to overcome it.
She was very kind to us when Joe and I went through the darkest days of the leak of my name in 2003. And, of course, Joe worked in the Clinton White House.
The human and environmental devastation caused by nuclear weapons - whether by testing, mistake or malice - is the very reason we need to eliminate them altogether.
Regarding Wikileaks, I have profound ambivalent feelings about it. I am a firm believer in a strong intelligence service. There's a need for classified information.
My take is, privacy is precious. I think privacy is the last true luxury. To be able to live your life as you choose without having everyone comment on it or know about.
Even those that hate Hillary admit she is a work horse and not a show horse. She gets down into the nuts and bolts and figures out, 'What's the policy, what's the substance?'
When President Ronald Reagan negotiated some significant arms reduction deals with the then-Soviet Union, he was considered a real hero, someone who was advocating for peace.