W.E.B. Griffin > Quotes

“it’s easier finding a virgin in a whorehouse than an honest politician.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Vigilantes

“They walk between raindrops.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, In Danger's Path

“we say here in Texas, ‘Cold as an ex-wife’s heart.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Last Witness

“Gentlemen,” he said, “I am a simple soldier. When I was a cadet at Norwich, I was told, and I believed, and my subsequent career has proven true, that the essence of command is to make sure the troops have confidence in what they are doing. Troops must have faith in their officers Officers build and maintain that faith in a very simple manner: They never lie to their troops; they never ask them to do something they cannot do themselves, or are unwilling to do themselves; and they never partake of creature comforts until the last private in the rear rank has that creature comfort. If you’ll keep that in mind, I’m sure that we’ll get along.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Captains

“And it also says, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’” McCoy said. “And that ‘he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Semper Fi

“the true test of another man’s intelligence is how much he agrees with you?”
― W.E.B. Griffin, In Danger's Path

“Find capable subordinates, give them a clear mission, and then get out of their way and let them do their jobs.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Under Fire

“only thing worse than not realizing one’s dreams was to realize them:”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Battleground

“Gentlemen,” he said. “The Marine Corps loves you. Because the Marine Corps loves you, it has gone to considerable effort and expense to provide you with a healthy, nutritious breakfast. The Marine Corps expects you to eat the healthy, nutritious breakfast it has provided for you.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Semper Fi

“God, it is said, takes care of fools and drunks,”
― W.E.B. Griffin, In Danger's Path

“Everybody, sooner or later, stubs their toe. When that happens, the thing to do is swallow hard and go on”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Call To Arms

“As far as he was concerned, there were only two kinds of soldiers. There were those who lost their heads at the sound of hostile fire, and those who didn’t. The warriors and the chair-borne.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Captains

“When you must have permission to do something you know is right and you have good reason to believe that the officer with the power to give you such permission is going to say ‘Hell, no,’ do it anyway, as success washes away all sins.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Enemy of My Enemy

“mysterious chemistry that sometimes developed between seemingly dissimilar men—each surprisingly recognizing in the other a deep-down, kindred soul, the two of them bobbing along alone and unappreciated in a sea of fools.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Battleground

“You can’t fix stupid,”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Traffickers

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, ask a PFC.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The New Breed

“You can’t tell what a warrior looks like.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Majors

“three kinds of men. There’re the ones who can learn by reading. And there’re the ones who can learn by observation.’” He paused to let that sink in. “And?” Payne said. “ ‘And then there’s the rest of them who have to pee on the electric fence to find out for themselves.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Traffickers

“The behavioral scientists at the University of California, after extensive research, concluded that the best human material to train to be a pilot are classified intellectually as cretins.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, In Danger's Path

“The first duty of an officer—whether a lieutenant or a captain or the Commander in Chief—is to the enlisted men. That was a basic principle of command. He could not justify not calling up”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Captains

“When you are angry, you make bad decisions in direct proportion to the level of your anger.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, By Order Of The President

“All warfare is based on deception.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Traffickers

“Himmler rarely made little jokes, and when he smiled he reminded Canaris of a funeral director who had just sold an impoverished widow the most expensive coffin he had for sale.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Honor Of Spies

“she smiled at him with those goddamned fall-into-them eyes, then pursed her lips in a kiss.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Honor Bound

“Ethics in intelligence is about as common as honesty in politics.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Special Ops

“remittances.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Traffickers

“At 2100 hours the patrol craft was released as escort and the Nautilus got underway to rendezvous with the Argonaut off Makin Atoll.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Call To Arms

“an officer sees to his men before looking to his own personal comfort.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The New Breed

“intelligence is far less the gathering of information than being able to find the two or three tiny useful bits in the mountains of useless data.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, The Honor Of Spies

“That is when Randy Randle’s not groping the almost attractive women behind the cameras,” Payne said. “Almost attractive?” Harris parroted. Payne grinned. “They apparently like the attention, and don’t complain. It’s when Randy Randle plays grab ass with the pretty ones—literally, gets touchy-feely—that the complaints start. He really has a thing for TV reporters, preferably the hot blonde ones, something that goes beyond his usual perversion.”
― W.E.B. Griffin, Broken Trust