I’ve been reviewing my situation, in the last half hour of hell, and I’ve come to a very grave decision. After a lifetime of living by my wits, and on my memory, I shall give myself up full time to the profession of forgetting. I’m going to put an end to some emotional attachments that have long outlived their purpose. Namely “The Circus,” this house, my whole past.
— George Smiley (Alec Guinness – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)