Spy Book Quotes

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.”
“André Berthiaume,” I said.
“What?” he asked.
“The French writer who said that.”
Mr. Daly smiled and leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by now that you’ve read that somewhere. What he meant is that being an operative is a mask we wear, a job we do. It’s not exactly who we are, but it’s always a part of us too. If I stopped being a handler tomorrow, some piece of me would always be on a mission.”
I thought about that for a minute. “So what you’re saying is now that I’m an operative, there’s no turning back?”
“No.” He sat up straight and leaned closer to the railing. His voice came out with a quiet intensity. “What I’m saying is that it was already a part of you before you even got here.”
― Robin M. King, Remembrandt