Kurt Eichenwald > Quotes

“Enron was becoming a virtual cult of creativity, often placing swagger over substance. New ideas were celebrated for their newness, for their potential; tried and true businesses like the pipelines were almost derided.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“Excuse me, Ben," Bowen said. "Am I wrong, or aren't you the corporate treasurer?"
Glisan bristled. "Yes."
"What do you mean, you think you can get one?" Bowen shot back. "This is the current fucking maturities schedule! Go get it. You have to have a maturities schedule!"
But they didn't. With all the focus on deals and earnings- with finance group's transformation into a profit center rather than a division to support the business- the workday, boring details had been sloughed off.
p. 560”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“A eureka moment. It suddenly struck Mintz as so obvious. The executives entrusted with reviewing all of the LJM transactions- Causey, Buy, the board- approached their duties casually, giving everything just the onceover. They seemed to figure that somebody else was doing the tough analysis. But no one was.
p.389”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“In a market, preceptions could be as important as reality.
p.403”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“Kaminski plunged ahead. "I am not going to sign off on anything related to the Raptors," he said. "And I don't care if I'm fired for it."
Buy raised a hand. "Whoa, wait a minute, I don't think you'll be fired," he replied quickly. "Now that Skilling's gone, we have a different mantra in Enron."
He looked Kaminski in the eye. "We're expected to be honest", he said.
p.525”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“...Fastow had found someone trusting and pliable.
Fastow wanted a pupet, Bowen concluded, and he already controlled Ben Glisan's strings.
p.338”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“I finally understood—I possessed more control than I had believed. Healthy people didn’t always understand the scope of how much could be overcome. I certainly never had before I got sick.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“Enron would keep its unearned windfall, generated solely because David Duncan didn't know what he was doing.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“Okay,” he said. “You’re right. You weren’t invited. Now I’m inviting you. Will you come?” I smiled and sat up. “Absolutely.” And that was it. There was no further discussion about our troubled year, no recriminations. Apparently, my decision to move out had been effective. From that moment on, my friendship with Carl and Franz was restored. We remain close to this day.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“You appreciate that?” Skilling glanced up, looking around at the others with him in the room. He wanted the last word. “Asshole.” Palmer almost fell over. Did he hear that right? Enron’s chief executive had just called someone an asshole? On an open line? On an analysts’ call? He jumped out of his chair. He needed to get upstairs.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“What e-mail was Ryan Siurek talking about? Siurek, an architect on the Raptors, had been speaking with Andersen accountants about some technical detail involving $1.2 billion booked as “notes receivable” from the Raptors, or commitments to pay Enron, which related to the company’s agreement to contribute stock to the entities. That had resulted in Enron’s increasing its reported equity by the same amount. Siurek said he had raised the issue during the March restructuring in an e-mail to Patricia Grutzmacher, a member of the Andersen team.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“I stood, ready to walk out on this point. “No matter what happens in the future, no matter what I become, I will never return here. I will, however, contribute ten dollars a year by deducting it from what Swarthmore owes me. Which means I’ll be long dead before the school gets a dime.” “I’m sorry you feel that way,” Stott said. “And I’m sorry this happened to you.” I choked up. Stott, uninvolved in my dismissal, was the only person at Swarthmore to have ever apologized.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“public defender’s office, Epstein”
― Kurt Eichenwald, The Informant

“Black wanted to discuss everything that had since been green-lighted, but most of it remained classified. He could only hint at the magnitude of the problems caused by skittishness among policy makers—and their recent conversion to born-again belligerence in the war on terror.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“trumpeting the quarter’s performance. After that came the question period. It started predictably enough, with requests for information about run-of-the-mill operating matters. Then the operator called on the next questioner. “Richard Grubman, of Highfield Capital.” As Skilling stared at the speakerphone, Mark Koenig, the investor-relations chief, began scrawling a note. Grubman asked what the balances of assets and liabilities were in the trading business”
― Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools

“As I sat in the deli, I had no idea I was watching my mother transform; she was resolving to no longer stand helplessly on the sidelines and instead to fight to end the chaos. She had allowed my father to seize the role of overseer of my medical care, then hadn’t fought back when I insisted on finding my own doctor in Pennsylvania—all with disastrous results. If she hadn’t forced me into Northwestern, I would have been dead. Only her decisions had been correct; my father’s and mine had consistently been terrible. She knew taking control would mean fighting us both. She had never been an aggressive person and often allowed my father to dictate her life choices. No more.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“Giving somebody false hope is worse than not giving them any hope at all, I think. You want to be honest with people even in small things because if you’re not, then how will they believe you in anything that you say? The whole idea is the trust that you develop with your patient is something that’s the responsibility of the doctor. It’s as important as the medicine that you give somebody, if that’s necessary.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What?” “Why do you need a letter?” “Well, to explain—” “Kurt,” she interrupted, “don’t you know? You’re graduating with academic distinction.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“For the first time, I noticed the work being performed by the rest of the team. No conversation, every face serious. A woman removed wrapping from a tray. At some point, I noticed a sealed bag with a needle in it. By my guess, it was six inches long. Then I saw another device that looked like a giant corkscrew, only straight. “Mom?” I said. She was nearby, behind all the staff dashing about. I assumed she had been asking plenty of questions herself that I hadn’t heard. “Yes, Kurt.” “I want you to leave before they do this.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“The CIA had no doubt that the weapons were there, while the Pentagon was unsure whether the capacity to make them even existed. It was as if the intelligence analysts were saying that they were confident that Saddam’s wife was ready to give birth, but remained uncertain if she was pregnant.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“There was analysis dating back years that demonstrated Saddam had no such arsenal. Yet even though it was his group that handled Iraq, it hadn’t been asked for input on”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“The classified information was nothing more than the statements from El-Maati and Almalki that had been extracted by torture, and Omar Khadr’s false identification of Arar.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“These tariffs were a public slap in the face to America’s most loyal friend, delivered with a private wink that it was really just a charade. This decision, Meyer fumed, was reprehensible.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“Bush said. “This is a great opportunity. We can change and improve our relations with countries around the world.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“Never lie, assess character, appeal to principles, answer every question, and determine what impediments might keep them from speaking. Reporters need persistence, not the name of some major publication behind them, to crack a story.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“Whitman approached Friend. “Dorie?” she said. “Can we speak?” Whitman waited until everyone else left the room to say more. “I want to tell you, if Kurt sues the school, he will win,” she said. “And not only that—I’ll testify on his behalf.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“That’s illegal,” the counselor sputtered. If Swarthmore received federal money—and it almost certainly did—they were violating Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. I was free to leave school if I chose, but they couldn’t force me out.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled

“I have concluded on the basis of classified information that Arar is unequivocally inadmissible to the United States,” the”
― Kurt Eichenwald, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

“​
Quand ils chassent, les ours polaires attendent près d'un trou sur la glace qu'un phoque sorte la tête. Ils gardent une pâte sur un museau pour se fondre dans le paysage parce qu'ils ont le bout du nez noir, sans ça ils passeraient inaperçus... La question c'est : comment ils savent qu'ils ont le bout du nez noir ? Est-ce qu'ils regardent d'autres ours ? Est-ce qu'ils voient leur reflet dans l'eau et se disent : "sans ça je serais invisible ?" Oh, non, ça m'étonnerait que les ours cogitent autant.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, The Informant

“I had been assigned to a four-person suite in Wharton Hall, among the most popular and storied dormitories on campus. Built in 1903, it exuded quaint collegiate charm. Gargoyles depicting every season and the signs of the zodiac decorated eaves of the building. Wrapping around three sides of an expansive patio, Wharton featured some of Swarthmore’s largest dorm rooms; ours included two bedrooms and a living area that easily accommodated four work desks, bookcases, the glider chair, stereo tables, and an ancient, disheveled couch.”
― Kurt Eichenwald, A Mind Unraveled