Richard Helms

“The nation must to a degree take it on faith that we too are honorable men devoted to her service.”

“The clandestine service is the heart and soul of the CIA.”

“There are some secrets that should be kept.”

“You have to be a bit of a bastard to be a good spy.”

“I'm a public servant, and I'm not going to complain about my lot.”

“The real problem is that we are a secret agency in an open society.”

“There is no question that we have been guilty of some excesses.”

“The nation must to a degree take it on faith that we who lead the intelligence community are honorable men, devoted to the nation's service.”

“I had to do what I did. I had to mislead the Congress.”

“The clandestine service is the heart and soul of the Central Intelligence Agency.”

“There are no friends, only interests.”

“You have to be a bit of a bastard to be a good spy.”

“I think every DCI has the same experience, and that is that the president doesn't want any bad news.”

“Mr. President, the facts are that the CIA has a damn poor record of predicting events.”

“We do not target American citizens. We target foreign nationals.”