“None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them; such persons covet secrets as a spendthrift covets money, for the purpose of circulation.”

“Compliment but do not covet.”

“Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations.”

“What does he do, Clarice? What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing? He covets. How do we begin to covet? We begin by coveting what we see every day.”

“… the only way to keep your secrets safe is to have none at all…”

“You shall not covet thy neighbor's wife? Well, how about if she goddamn covets me? What do you think about that?”

“I find that those men who are personally most polite to women, who call them angels and all that, cherish in secret the greatest contempt for them.”

“One person can keep a secret, but not two.”

“The covetous person lives as if the world were made altogether for him, and not he for the world.”

“The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep.”