Charles Vest Quotes

I once said that democracy is a discussion. But real discussion is only possible where men trust one another, and honestly seek the truth. Democracy is a conversation among equals, the thinking of free people open to complete publicity—the word "parliament" has a fine meaning, if only we could give it body!

Those civil society groups promoting access to information must also require themselves and other activist groups to provide public accounting if, as proponents of openness, they are to safeguard their own legitimacy and credibility…

Trust comes from transparency…

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.

Over the next decade, the market-driven explosion of surveillance sensors and data analytics will bring an unprecedented level of transparency to global affairs. Commercial satellites will capture daily images of the entire globe, offering inexpensive and automated reports on everything from crop yields to military activity. Journalists, NGOs, and bloggers will increasingly use crowdsourced data to uncover wartime atrocities and expose government hypocrisy. Private security companies will discover the sources of cyberattacks and data theft. Biometric systems will expose the identities of clandestine operatives, and government agencies will struggle to contain leakers and whistleblowers.

I’m struck that there is one lesson I learned early and then relearned over and over: Trust is the coin of the realm. When trust was in the room, whatever room that was — the family room, the schoolroom, the locker room, the office room, the government room or the military room — good things happened. When trust was not in the room, good things did not happen.

Conflicts of interest' arise when you're not - when you're sneaky about it, when you're shady about it, when you're not transparent about it. If you tell everyone, 'Here's what's going on. Here's the process; here are the people that are playing a role' - that's being transparent.

In my relations with my husband, there was never any deceit... he never said he was going out on business; he would say he was going to a show, and I would say, 'Fine.'

The best theater is trying to tell the truth, and the best politics is trying to tell the truth.

We want a culture where it is unacceptable not to share what you know.

We need to be honest with the public.

If you're not open, you're not transparent, you're still holding on to vaults of information, you're not going to build that trust.

I want to treat people the way I like to be treated and be very straight with them.

Openness, respect, integrity - these are principles that need to underpin pretty much every other decision that you make.

Our core values and business ethics will always be paramount in all that we do, and we are always looking to do the right thing and settle claims fairly and accurately.

I welcome a scrutiny of my entire record.

Employees who can't trust their leader to be vulnerable are not going to be vulnerable and build trust with one another.

Sometimes I think that people are not prepared to listen and discuss truths.

Players are smart. That locker room knows. So don't hide anything.

I fully support accountability and transparency.

For policemen to be honest about the fact that they may be fearful when they come into a certain situation, not understanding what's going to happen. The only way things will change and things will get better is if people are able to be honest without feeling like they're going to be offended, or they're going to offend someone else.

If there is one thing I have learnt, it's that you have to be honest.

Those who are in our military and now have retired or they left the service actually respect candor. And they respect those that speak without trying to politicize who they are.

Inexperienced entrepreneurs often want to keep their plans secret, but this is never how I've seen any of the great companies get built.

I had a rule - I didn't have a lot of rules - and one of them was we're going to operate from a mutual respect. I won't embarrass you, and I don't expect you to be embarrass me.