Overcautiousness Quotes

“It seemed strange to me that my first commission for information should require spying on a friendly power. A few years later it would have seemed quite ordinary. Allies are willing to donate both lives and wealth to the common cause; but the exchange, honestly, of truthful information is nearly impossible. I have noticed that intelligence executives become hoarders, so miserly and overcautious that they frequently render useless vital information which has been collected at great cost in money and men.”
― Donald Downes, The Scarlet Thread: Adventures in Wartime Espionage