Quotes from The Hunt for Red October

“It was one thing to use computers as a tool, quite another to let them do your thinking for you.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“Being a victim is more palatable than having to recognize the intrinsic contradictions of one's own governing philosophy.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“It is a principle of diplomacy that one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“In the Soviet Union every worker is a government worker, and they have a saying: As long as the bosses pretend to pay us, we will pretend to work.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“Danger confronted properly is not something a man must fear.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“One thing about flying that he never got used to was that no matter how awful the weather was on the ground, if you flew high enough you could always find the sun.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“The Good of the People was a laudable enough goal, but in denying a man’s soul, an enduring part of his being, Marxism stripped away the foundation of human dignity and individual value. It also cast aside the objective measure of justice and ethics which, he decided, was the principal legacy of religion to civilized life.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“We wait. No sense spooking him. We let him come in nice and close while we do our famous imitation of a hole in the water,”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“One of the compensations for wearing a uniform and earning less money than an equally talented man can make in the real world is the off chance of being killed.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“The only people Ryan needed to impress were those who knew him; he cared little for the rest.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.” The president smiled. “Well, they’ve had enough time to play this game. I hope my belated reaction will not disappoint them.” “No, sir. Alex must have half expected you to kick him out the door.” “The thought’s occurred to me more than once. His diplomatic charm has always been lost on me. That’s the one thing about the Russians—they remind me so much of the mafia chieftains I used to prosecute. The same smattering of culture and good manners, and the same absence of morality.” The president shook his head. He was talking like a hawk again. “Stay close, Jeff. I have George Farmer coming in here in a few minutes, but I want you around when our friend comes back.” Pelt walked back to his office pondering the president’s remark. It was, he admitted to himself, crudely accurate. The most wounding insult to an educated Russian was to be”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“The Good of the People was a laudable enough goal, but in denying a man’s soul, an enduring part of his being, Marxism stripped away the foundation of human dignity and individual value.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“that one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“Yes,’ Smirnov answered, ‘he was on a nuclear-powered submarine.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“Each of a hundred ships, built by the same men at the same yard to the same plans, will have her own special characteristics--most of them bad, really, but after her crew becomes accustomed to them they are spoken of affectionately, particularly in retrospect.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“audience, not interrupting once, only darting a few disbelieving looks at him. ‘God Almighty,’ Painter said when Ryan finished. Davenport just stared poker-faced as he contemplated the possibility of examining a Soviet missile sub from the inside. Jack decided he’d be a formidable opponent over cards. Painter went on, ‘Do you really believe this?’ ‘Yes, sir, I do.’ Ryan poured himself another cup of coffee. He would have preferred a beer to go with his corned beef. It hadn’t been bad at all, and good kosher corned beef was something he’d been unable to find in London. Painter leaned back and looked at Davenport. ‘Charlie, you tell Greer to teach this lad a few lessons – like how a bureaucrat ain’t supposed to stick his neck this far out on the block. Don’t you think this is a little far-fetched?’ ‘Josh, Ryan here’s the guy who did the report last June on Soviet missile-sub patrol patterns.’ ‘Oh? That was a nice piece of work. It confirmed something I’ve been saying for two or three years.’ Painter rose and walked to the corner to look out at the stormy sea. ‘So, what are we supposed to do about all this?”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“A wise man knows his limitations.’ And a bold one seizes opportunities.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

“The Good of the People was a laudable enough goal, but in denying a man's soul, an enduring part of his being, Marxism stripped away the foundation of human dignity and individual value.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October

About the author

Popular quotes

“It's a fool who thinks love will set him free. Love equals a morbid and relentless fear of losing the other person”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Sweet Thing

“I move closer to the glass, as close as I can get to it, begging her, begging Lily, begging Grace, begging all of them to tell me what's left, to just tell me while the girl pushes against the window, turns her tiny hands into tiny fists, begging me for a taste of - life.
My life.
Lily disappears. Grace. They all leave, they're gone, they will never be here again. But the wright of what they've shown me is settling into my bones. I don't know if I will keep it, but just in this moment, however brief, I feel closer to it that I ever have before...
The dead girl presses her face against the glass. She wait for me to tell her what's next.”
― Courtney Summers, quote from This is Not a Test

“I’m glad I have you for my boyfriend.” “Me too,” I said. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself.” She pinched my arm and smiled. “You’re so cute.”
― Richard Paul Evans, quote from Rise of the Elgen

“Supongo que en una mujer, hasta el odio es una forma del amor”
― Yasunari Kawabata, quote from Beauty and Sadness

“Even at their most basic function, needles do two things: They give and they take away.”
― Ryan Graudin, quote from Wolf by Wolf

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.