An overnight success is ten years in the making. by Tom Clancy

An overnight success is ten years in the making.

Tom Clancy

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Categorized in : Years Ten Overnight Success

Things rarely happen for a single reason. Even the cleverest and most skilled manipulators recognize that their real art lies in making use of that which they cannot predict.

real lying art

If a hero must have an unmarked grave, it should at least be close to where his comrades fell." "Comrades?" "One way or another we all fight for the things we believe in. Doesn't that give us some common ground?

fighting hero believe

I write strictly for fun... as long as it stays fun I'll continue... by Tom Clancy

I write strictly for fun... as long as it stays fun I'll continue to do it.

writing fun long

Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change about you, but your dream will not. It will always be your link with the person, young and full of hope. If you hold on to it you may grow old but you will never be old. And that is the ultimate success

real dream inspirational

Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" hap... by Tom Clancy

Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.

happened what-if novel

The difference between me and you is that I do good fiction. by Tom Clancy

The difference between me and you is that I do good fiction.

differences fiction

And so began something that had not quite begun and would not soon end, with many people in many places moving off in directions and on missions which they all mistakenly thought they understood. That was just as well. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected, illusory finish lines were things fated by the decisions made this morning -- and, once decided, best unseen.

morning people moving

She didn't strike me as a "crossword in ink" kind of girl by Tom Clancy

She didn't strike me as a "crossword in ink" kind of girl

ink girl kind

There are people in government who don't want other people to know what they know. It's just another example of elitism. And I spit on elitism. Show me an elitist, and I'll show you a loser.

show-me loser memorable

The only real difference between a wise man and a fool, Moore knew, was that the wise man tended to make more serious mistakes—and only because no one trusted a fool with really crucial decisions; only the wise had the opportunity to lose battles, or nations.

real wise mistake

It is a principle of diplomacy that one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.

principles order lying

Jack looked out the window as they passed the Mormon temple, just outside the beltway near Connecticut Avenue. A decidedly odd-looking building, it had grandeur with its marble columns and gilt spires. The beliefs represented by that impressive structure seemed curious to Ryan, a lifelong Catholic, but the people who held them were honest and hardworking, and fiercely loyal to their country, because they believed in what America stood for.

country america people

I understand why we do that now. It’s a help, not a threat. It’s something to remind you how important words are. Ideas are important. Principles are important. Words are important. Your word is the most important of all. Your word is who you are.

important principles ideas

Most things in here don't react well to bullets. by Tom Clancy

Most things in here don't react well to bullets.

bullets october wells

(Stereotyping) is only for those without the imagination to see people as they are instead of being like someone else they understand.

stereotype imagination people

Courage is being the only only one who knows how terrified you ar... by Tom Clancy

Courage is being the only only one who knows how terrified you are.

terrified know-how courage

Two questions form the foundation of all novels: "What if?" and "What next?" (A third question, "What now?", is one the author asks himself every 10 minutes or so; but it's more a cry than a question.) Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.

ifs-and what-if two

Suspense is achieved by information control: What you know. What the reader knows. What the characters know.

information writing character

There was a time when nails were high-tech. There was a time when people had to be told how to use a telephone. Technology is just a tool. People use tools to improve their lives.

nails technology people

It was one thing to use computers as a tool, quite another to let... by Tom Clancy

It was one thing to use computers as a tool, quite another to let them do your thinking for you.

tools use thinking