“Before taking her into the library, my wife told me she was an old friend in a marriage crisis. A fatuous lie; at her age there are no crises left in marriage, only acceptance and extraction. (General Villiers)”

“She's an old soldier's woman, and she has antennae for things that often escape the officer in the field.”

“The easiest thing in the world is to convince yourself that you're right. As one grows old, it is easier still.”

“The success of any trap lies in its fundamental simplicity. The reverse trap by the nature of its single complication must be swift and simpler still.”

“If I haven't done badly, it's because I've become indispensable to too many like David Abbott. I have in my head a thousand facts they couldn't possibly recall. It's simply easier for them to place me where the questions are, where problems need solutions. (Alfred Gillette)”

“Well, let me tell you, gentlemen, the games of the devil are not restricted to those confined to hell. Others can play them.”

“You're on your own now. You are not helpless. You will find your way.”