# Quote — Eric Ambler, The Light of Day

> I think that if I were asked to single out one specific group of men, one type, one category, as being the most suspicious, unbelieving, unreasonable , petty, inhuman, sadistic, double-crossing set of bastards in any language, I would say without any hesitation: "the people who run counter-espionage departments." With them, it is no use having just one story; and especially not a true story; they automatically disbelieve that. What you must have is a series of stories, so that when they knock the first one down you can bring out the second, and then when they scrub that out, come up with a third. That way they think they are making progress and keep their hands off you, while you gradually find out the story they really want you to tell.

- Author: [Eric Ambler](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eric-ambler.md)
- Book: [The Light of Day](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eric-ambler/the-light-of-day.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Ambler#The_Light_of_Day_(1962)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/eric-ambler/the-light-of-day/i-think-that

## More from this book

> In my experience, most people are extraordinarily careless about the way they look after traveler's checks. Just because their counter-signature is required before a check can be cashed, they assume that only they can negotiate it. Yet anyone with eyes in his head can copy the original signature. [...] People who leave traveler's checks lying around deserve to lose them.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eric-ambler/the-light-of-day/in-my-experience.md)

> It came down to this: if I hadn't been arrested by the Turkish police, I would have been arrested by the Greek police. I had no choice but to do what this man Harper told me. He was entirely responsible for what happened to me.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eric-ambler/the-light-of-day/it-came-down.md)