Sissela Bok Quotes

#1. When had she moved so close? Her brain screamed at her to back away. She would regret this. She already regretted this.

Laura Oliva

#2. Some level of truthfulness has always been seen as essential to human society, no matter how deficient the observance of other moral principles.

Sissela Bok

#3. Fight all you want, but you will never win. You can change a system only by being part of that system, by being part of the change.

Anand Neelakantan

#4. Patriotism demands of us sustained sacrifice.

Chiang Kai-shek

#5. I believe that a guarantee of public access to government information is indispensable in the long run for any democratic society ... if officials make public only what they want citizens to know, then publicity becomes a sham and accountability meaningless.

Sissela Bok

#6. Are people the best judges of their own happiness, or outsiders? In defining happiness, should we think of entire lives or of shorter periods such as moments, days, or years? And to what extent are virtue and happiness linked?

Sissela Bok

#7. Between frivolity and intentional mischief there is little difference, none in the results.

Ilka Chase

#8. Deceit and violence - these are the two forms of deliberate assault on human beings.

Sissela Bok

#9. Politicians are fond of criticizing others.

Martin Winterkorn

#10. Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived.

Sissela Bok

#11. Trust is a social good to be protected just as much as the air we breathe or the water we drink. When it is damaged, the community as a whole suffers; and when it is destroyed, societies falter and collapse

Sissela Bok

#12. We are all, in a sense, experts on secrecy. From earliest childhood we feel its mystery and attraction. We know both the power it confers and the burden it imposes. We learn how it can delight, give breathing space and protect.

Sissela Bok

#13. The only path to the final defeat of imperialism and the building of socialism is revolutionary war.

Bill Ayers

#14. Psychologists have found that we are more likely, in looking back at our lives, to remember high points and dramatic shifts in far greater proportion than ongoing stretches of happiness or misery.

Sissela Bok

#15. Whatever matters to human beings, trust is the atmosphere in which it thrives.

Sissela Bok

#16. Philly is more East Coast than Pittsburgh. It's closer to New Jersey and New York, so the vibe is way more fast-paced.

Wiz Khalifa

#17. Ideals are like the stars - you can't touch them with your hands, but by following them you reach your destination.

Thomas S. Monson

#18. Sitting too long in front of a screen proves both physically and psychologically debilitating, no matter how innocuous or even beneficial the programs may be.

Sissela Bok

#19. While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive.

Sissela Bok

#20. America may be the only society on earth to have experienced what has been called an 'epidemic of children killing children,' which is ravaging some of its communities today.

Sissela Bok

#21. Trust and integrity are precious resources, easily squandered, hard to regain. They can thrive only on a foundation of respect for veracity.

Sissela Bok

#22. No woman will ever take care of my children but me, she said. I will not allow it, do you understand?
And after I am gone Madge Toxley, if you try to make them yours, then you will live to regret it.

John Boyne

#23. A skillful playwright might have a good time with the story of the assassination of President William McKinley, and especially with the three most flamboyant political figures involved: Mark Hanna, Theodore Roosevelt, and Emma Goldman.

Russell Baker

#24. Secrecy is as indispensable to human beings as fire, and as greatly feared.

Sissela Bok

#25. To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one's reach.

Sissela Bok

#26. There are self-awareness groups, to help you discover who you really are ... encounter groups, to help you deal with who you really are ... assertiveness training groups to help you stand up for who you really are ... Suddenly, the only way to become an individual is to join a group.

Cathy Guisewite