#secrecy

If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better. ↗

— Peter Singer

#behave #better #citizens #could #dark

Almost all people are hypnotics. The proper authority saw to it that the proper belief should be induced, and the people believed properly. ↗

— Charles Fort

#deception #fortean #hypnosis #manipulation #mind-control

There are many hands touching ballots after a voter drops his ballot into the ballot box. There is no guarantee of ballot secrecy for anyone, which makes the whole system vulnerable to intimidation and bribery. ↗

— Bob Schaffer

#anyone #ballot #ballot box #ballots #box

We have seen segments of our Government, in their attitudes and action, adopt tactics unworthy of a democracy, and occasionally reminiscent of totalitarian regimes. We have seen a consistent pattern in which programs initiated with limited goals, such as preventing criminal violence or identifying foreign spies, were expanded to what witnesses characterized as "vacuum cleaners", sweeping in information about lawful activities of American citizens. The tendency of intelligence activities to expand beyond their initial scope is a theme which runs through every aspect of our investigative findings. Intelligence collection programs naturally generate ever-increasing demands for new data. And once intelligence has been collected, there are strong pressures to use it against the target. ↗

— Church Committee

#data #national-security #predictions #prescience #secrecy

It has always seemed that a fear of judgment is the mark of guilt and the burden of insecurity. ↗

— Criss Jami

#being-strong #burden #discernment #fear #guilt

If you have to keep a secret it's because you shouldn't be doing it in the first place ↗

— David Nicholls

#secret

The real thing about evil," said the Witch at the doorway, "isn't any of what you said. You figure out one side of it - the human side, say - and the eternal side goes into shadow. Or vice versa. It's like the old saw: What does a dragon in its shell look like? Well no one can ever tell, for as soon as you break the shell to see, the dragon is no longer in its shell. The real disaster of this inquiry is that it is the nature of evil to be secret. ↗

— Gregory Maguire

#secrecy #two-sides-to-the-story #vice-versa #life

Privacy - like eating and breathing - is one of life's basic requirements. ↗

— Katherine Neville

#secrecy #life

The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it; for, however absurd it may be thought to boast an honour by an act which shows that it was conferred without merit, yet most men seem rather inclined to confess the want of virtue than of importance. ↗

— Samuel Johnson

#self-importance #trustworthiness #vanity #men

The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it. ↗

— Kate Adie

#democracy #good #information #never #secrecy