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"Making use of human weaknesses in intelligence work is a logical matter. It keeps coming up, and of course you try to look at all the aspects that interest you in a human being."
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"We only share our ignorance with others, infact only it IS capable and contagious for it breeds in unawareness, on the contrary Intelligence belongs to an individual's territory, for his very functioning is 'other worldly' and he stands out from the mediocre crowd. What are YOU!"

"The problem with being clever, Serene thought with a sigh, is that everyone assumes you're always planning something."

"I'm not a psychopath, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research."

"I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander."

"Some people are street-smart, some people are book-smart, but most people are just dumber than dirt."

"Don't be scared to be intelligent. Knowledge is sexy and powerful."

"Some people get rich studying artificial intelligence. I make money studying natural stupidity."

"Education is no substitute for intelligence. That elusive quality is defined only in part by puzzle-solving ability. It is in the creation of new puzzles reflecting what your senses report that you round out the definition."

"For passion, be it observed, brings insight with it; it can give a sort of intelligence to simpletons, fools, and idiots, especially during youth."
Explore more quotes by Markus Wolf

"The particular feature of Berlin - well, all you need to do is look at the map: the geographical position of the city right in the heart of Europe, and the separation of the most powerful two blocs we've ever had in history, which went all the way through Germany."

"I tried to instill a different motivation, to give them the security and the conviction that they were doing something good, something necessary, something useful - if you want to use a grandiose expression, that they were doing something for peace."

"You can't do anything if a person says no. In such a case, there's nothing you can do - unlike the popular cliche that pressure is exerted, or that maybe an unwilling source is done away with."

"I feel that I, and the people under my command, tried to use all the traditional methods of recruiting agents which were also used by other intelligence services; adopting also means like pressure, money, sex - but that did not characterize my service."

"At our college we were taught a universal approach to find out about a person: what problems the person has, what difficulties, what personal tendencies and likings."

"We planted bugs, microphones, in premises which interested us in the West. We weren't too successful - I would have said unfortunately in former years, but I don't care anymore now."

"Most of the results of using technical bugging devices were of little importance for my service. It may have been different in counter-intelligence, where bugs in flats, etc., were used to obtain a lot of information about what counter-intelligence was interested in."

"There were some tragic cases of women whose love was abused, who for a certain time procured important documents or information, not knowing who for, what service they worked for, and for a variety reasons got jailed, were tried and sentenced."

"Making use of human weaknesses in intelligence work is a logical matter. It keeps coming up, and of course you try to look at all the aspects that interest you in a human being."
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