He had learned that close-held secrets could often be cracked by going all the way to the top and there making himself unbearably unpleasant. He knew that such twisting of the tiger's tail was dangerous, for he understood the psychopathology of great power.

To permit irresponsible authority is to sell disaster.

An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. - Beyond the Horizon, 1942.

I do know that the slickest way to lie is to tell the right amount of truth--then shut up.

Nothing uses up alcohol faster than political argument.

Remind me," Jubal said to her, "to write a popular article on the compulsive reading of news. The theme will be that most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to tthe unecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the toubles and sins of five billion strangers. The title is 'Gossip Unlimited' - no, make that 'Gossip Gone Wild.'