Archive

Quotes

For sooner will men hold fire in their mouths than keep a secret.

—Petronius, c. 60

Once suspicion is aroused, everything feeds it.

—Amelia Edith Barr, 1885

Guard more faithfully the secret which is confided to you than the money which is entrusted to your care.

—Isocrates, c. 370 BC

A regime which combines perpetual surveillance with total indulgence is hardly conducive to healthy development.

—P.D. James, 1992

It was funny how I could feel all alone and under surveillance at the same time.

—Cory Doctorow, 2013

If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.

—William Hazlitt, 1823

The life of spies is to know, not be known.

—George Herbert, c. 1621

There is a sickness among tyrants: they cannot trust their friends.

—Aeschylus, c. 458 BC

Spies are of no use nowadays. Their profession is over. The newspapers do their work instead.

—Oscar Wilde, 1895
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