Dick Cheney Quotes

There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

I am always up to steal secrets from smart people.

If you look back today over the last 25 years, it is a fact that we have had a progressive degeneration of our intelligence community in general; in particular in the field of human intelligence.

Secrecy is as essential to Intelligence as vestments to a Mass, or darkness to a spiritualist seance, and must at all costs be maintained, quite irrespective of whether or not it serves any purpose.

Intelligence is a sacred cow. We’ve done nothing since we’ve been here about it. The CIA isn’t worth a damn.

Nobody [at the CIA] had any idea of who was doing what where

The intelligence community is built, resourced, designed, trained, and focused around secrecy. We try to obtain the secrets of our adversaries and we try and keep secret how we are doing so.

I first learned the power of trust in the CIA. There is no question that when I joined the Agency as a covert operations officer, it was still run along the 'old boys' network' model.

There is no place where espionage is not possible.

Since that time I have had continuous contact with the persons who were completely unknown to me, except that I knew they would hand whatever information I gave them to the Russian authorities.

We have actually experienced in recent months a dramatic demonstration of an unprecedented intelligence failure, perhaps the most significant intelligence failure in the history of the United States.

Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.

The skills of the British intelligence community are a great national asset.

Since real spies are so good, you never really know what actual spying is. But I do think spying is a lot more dangerous than we are led to believe.

I was an intelligence officer, not a policy-maker.

Perhaps my information hurt the Soviet Union more than it helped. I have no idea. It was not something I ever discussed with the KGB officers that I was dealing with.

How the hell can you expect those guys to catch spies when they can't smell the stink under their own noses?

There is only one law of espionage—there are always going to be spies.

Secrecy now beclouds everything about CIA—its cost, its efficiency, its successes, and its failures.

Americans don’t spy on Americans.

I do not believe that reorganization will fix what is wrong with our intelligence community….Failures were caused by performance, not organization.

Directors of Central Intelligence are supposed to steer clear of policy.

My Noble Intelligencer …. My Ubiquitous Eyes

Intelligence always carries uncertainties. That is the nature of the beast.

Secrecy now beclouds everything about the Central Intelligence Agency—its cost, its efficiency, its success, its failures.