Transparency Quotes

My administration doesn’t have any secrets, and from now on, neither will you.

There are two things nobody should ever have to watch being made, sausage and laws.

Government ought to be all outside and no inside. . . . Everybody knows that corruption thrives in secret places, and avoids public places, and we believe it a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety.

Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces, which expose the whole movement.

I'll bring my tax returns; you bring yours. I'll meet you anytime anywhere.

People who love sausage and respect the law should never watch either being made.

The only people who don't want to disclose the truth are the people with something to hide.

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition and both are necessary.

Nothing short of a federal investigation can begin to disclose the abuses which have woven a fine web of mutually implicating relationships between businessmen and government officials.

I've talked to you on a number of occasions about the economic problems our nation faces, and I am prepared to tell you it's in a hell of a mess-we're not connected to the press room yet, are we?

No one who has read official documents needs to be told how easy it is to conceal the essential truth under the apparently candid and all- disclosing phrases of a voluminous and particularizing report.

To resolve this issue will require Iran to come to the table and discuss in a clear and forthright way how to prove to the international community that the intentions of their nuclear program are peaceful. [...] The question is going to be whether in these discussions they show themselves moving clearly in that direction.

A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.

I don't like anything unsigned in a newspaper that purports to be the opinion of some group if we don't know who the group is. It's laughable to say that The Miami Herald's editorials or any newspaper's editorials represent any views other than those of the people writing them, so why don't we tell everybody who they are?

To the man who cherishes a secret in his breast, there is a still greater secret unexplored. Our most indifferent acts may be a matter for secrecy, but whatever we do with the utmost truthfulness and integrity, by virtue of its pureness, must be transparent as light.

The very word Secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society.

Don't hide bad news. With multiple information channels available, bad news always becomes known. Be candid right from the start.

The diffusion of information and the arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason, I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one of] those which ought to shape its administration.

So I think it's important to understand that your duly elected representatives have been consistently informed about exactly what we're doing.

Let them know precisely what you are going to do with their data

Well the protester I think is a very powerful thing. It's basically a mechanism of democracy that, along with capitalism, scientific innovation, those things have built the modern world. And it's wonderful that the new tools have empowered that protestor so that state secrets, bad developments are not hidden anymore.

There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass. Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge and fox and squirrel and mole.

Secrecy destroys accountability.

The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.

They took care to represent government as a thing made up of mysteries, which only themselves understood, and they hid from the understanding of the nation, the only thing that was beneficial to know, namely, that government is nothing more than a national association acting on the principles of society.

My administration will be the most transparent in history

The cure for bad politics is the same as the cure for tuberculosis. It is living in the open.

It is better that the truth be known than that scandal be covered up.

It is vain to keep a secret from one who has a right to know it. It will tell itself.

My dream of politics all my life has been that it is the common business, that it is something we owe to each other to understand and discuss with absolute frankness.

The officers do not beat the men; the officers and men receive equal treatment. Soldiers are free to hold meetings and speak out. Trivial formalities have been done away with and the accounts are open for all to inspect.

Happy the man who never puts on a face, but receives every visitor with that countenance he has on.

We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.

I’ve never been shy or secretive with the fact that if you walk into my life, you may be walking onto a record.

When I take a look at a company's annual report, if I don't understand it, they don't want me to understand it.

Our fellow-citizens think they have a right to full information, in a case of such great concernment to them. It is their sweat which is to earn all the expenses of the war, and their blood which is to flow in expiation of the causes of it.

When the citizens of a society can see and hear their leaders, then that society should be seen as one.

There's the one thing no nation can ever accuse us of and that is secret diplomacy. Our foreign are an open book, generally a check book.

I've said many times around the world that like any government, like any country, like, any set of human institutions, we have our flaws. We've operated imperfectly. There are times we've made mistakes.

You have to tell the whole truth, the good and the bad, maybe some things that are uncomfortable for some people.

A village is a hive of glass, where nothing unobserved can pass.

And for me, I guess the person who I tell everything that I'm going through is you. The fans.

Every organization needs to be introspective, transparent, and honest with itself. This only works if everyone is unified on the goals and purposes of the organization and there is trust within the team. High-performing, successful organizations build cultures of introspection and trust and never lose sight of their purpose.

You will pardon some obscurities, for there are more secrets in my trade than in most men's, and yet not voluntarily kept, but inseparable from its very nature. I would gladly tell all that I know about it, and never paint "No Admittance" on my gate.

Love, Cough, & a Smoke, can't well be hid.

I'm glad I wrote the book to show what I found out about the [ Standard Oil Company]. I'm glad many people read my book and found out the truth.

Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.

I don't know how to put on an act; I always show myself for what I am, in whatever mood I'm in.

How much I love every thing that is decided and open!

Let the people know the truth and the country is safe.

When there's somebody there who is transparent enough so that the stillness comes through unhindered, there's a reciprocal movement in you because the presence of stillness suddenly recognizes itself.

Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

Crime and vice generally require darkness for prowling. They disappear when light plays upon them.

Years ago, even prior to 9/11, I did a movie called "The Siege." I did a lot of research with the FBI and the CIA. And I was amazed at that time (I guess we might all know it now) how little information they shared with each other. So after that, I'm not surprised by anything.

Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at.

Information is the currency of democracy. It's denial must always be suspect.

You don't need to see my birth certificate, or my college records, or my legal writings, or... anything.

The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society. ... There is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.

Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work.

Twitter is great to connect with fans and be transparent. I enjoy that aspect about it. But really, I'm still trying to figure it out.