Access To Information Quotes

• Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

  Sid Meier

  Dream, Heart, Information

  Chris McCubbin, David Ladyman, Sid Meier (1999). “Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri”

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• America is the most inventive country in the world. Why? Because everybody has access to information. In the Soviet Union it was illegal to take a photograph of a train station. Look what happened to them.

  Tom Clancy

  Country, Memorable, America

  "Vonnegut and Clancy on Technology". Interview with Sarah Schafer, www.inc.com. December 15, 1995.

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• But the Congress has made the determination that certain kinds of information can be protected even though the American people may want to have access to information.

  Alberto Gonzales

  Determination, People, May

  Interview with Jim Lehrer, www.pbs.org. July 26, 2005.

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• Information is the most valuable commodity in the world today and this business is about giving people access to information that is relevant to their lives.

  James Murdoch

  Business, Media, People

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• Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility.

  Robin Morgan

  Peace, Knowledge, Humility

  Robin Morgan (2014). “The Word of a Woman: Feminist Dispatches”, p.121, Open Road Media

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• Democracy cannot meaningfully function without an informed citizenry, and such a citizenry is impossible without broad public access to information about the operations of government.

  Ryan Shapiro

  Government, Democracy, Information

  Source: news.vice.com

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• Secrecy is the linchpin of abuse of power, . . . its enabling force. Transparency is the only real antidote.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Real, Political, Abuse

  Glenn Greenwald (2014). “No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State”, p.21, Signal

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• There is a difference between having access to information and having the savvy it takes to interpret it.

  Clifford Stoll

  Differences, Information, Savvy

  Clifford Stoll (1999). “High-tech Heretic: Why Computers Don't Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian”, Doubleday Books

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• Secrecy was the problem; transparency the obvious cure.

  Robert J. Sawyer

  Problem, Conspiracy, Secrecy

  Robert J. Sawyer (2010). “WWW: Watch”, p.254, Penguin

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• Librarians consider free access to information the foundation of democracy.

  Marilyn Johnson

  Democracy, Foundation, Information

  Marilyn Johnson (2010). “This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All”, p.12, Harper Collins

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• New possibilities for a more active democracy are beginning to emerge in the information age. Effective citizen action is possible if citizens develop the abilities to gain access to information of all kinds and the skills to put such information to effective use.

  Harry Boyte

  Skills, Age, Democracy

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• We systematically overestimate the value of access to information and underestimate the value of access to each other.

  Clay Shirky

  Information, Underestimate, Access

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• With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge - we'll make it a thing of the past.

  Aaron Swartz

  Strong, Knowledge, Past

  Aaron Swartz (2016). “The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz”, p.27, The New Press

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• Access to information and freedom of access to it may seem like a fundamental right but there are many people who think, rightly or wrongly, it is for your own good that it is hidden.

  Alberto Gonzales

  Thinking, People, Fundamentals

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• I only form an opinion when I feel that I've done sufficient research and have sufficient access to information.

  Vincent Bugliosi

  Done, Research, Information

  Source: www.cyinterview.com

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• I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance.

  Ruben Blades

  Education, Ignorance, Thinking

  "Not everyone enthusiastic about the future of TV". Bangor Daily News, February 18, 1993.

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• Google will make us more informed. The smartest person in the world could well be behind a plow in China or India. Providing universal access to information will allow such people to realize their full potential, providing benefits to the entire world.

  Hal Varian

  People, Google, India

  "The structure of the Internet". Report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 2010.

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• But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information.

  Neil Gaiman

  Communication, School, Ideas

  Neil Gaiman (2016). “The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction”, p.13, HarperCollins

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• Intellectual freedom is essential -- freedom to obtain and distribute information, freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate and freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices. Such freedom of thought is the only guarantee against an infection of people by mass myths, which, in the hands of treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be transformed into bloody dictatorship.

  Andrei Sakharov

  Freedom, Hypocrite, Hands

  Andrei D. Sakharov (1968). “Progress, coexistence, and intellectual freedom”

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• When the function of libraries is put in terms of their contributions to the community, people see their centrality. The challenge to us is to continue to help them see it in those terms to describe our larger purposes. We must assert that libraries are central to the quality of life in our society; that libraries have a direct role in preserving democratic freedoms. Free access to information and the opportunity of every individual to improve his or her mind, employment prospects, and lifestyle are fundamental rights in our society.

  Arthur Curley

  Opportunity, Rights, People

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• Thanks is part to our education system, we tend to think that we're smarter than the stupid guys in funny wigs who came before us. But that's because we are mistaking technology, progress, and access to information for intelligence. We think that because we know how to use iPhones (but not build them), browse the Internet (but not understand how it works), and use Google (but not really know anything), our educational system is working just great. By the same token, we think that those dumb aristocrats who used horses to get around and didn't have electricity were neanderthals.

  Glenn Beck

  Horse, Educational, Stupid

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• Books are easy to find and easy to buy. A paperback these days only costs six or seven dollars. You can borrow that from your kids!

  Jim Rohn

  Book, Kids, Dollars

  FaceBook post by Jim Rohn from Apr 05, 2015

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• I think the most exciting thing is access to information. People's ability to document things and expose things that may have not otherwise been documented and exposed. All the information you want is available instantly, which is overwhelming, but I think can have a positive change on the political process and accountability for leaders and corporations.

  Moby

  Thinking, People, Leader

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• Everybody is looking at their base business and saying, "What else is it? Sure, we do this, but while we're doing that, what else do we know about our customer, and what does that enable us to do?" That comes from the access to information and the ability to analyze it with a speed they never had. I think everybody is thinking that way.

  Ken Moelis

  Thinking, Doe, Information

  Source: nordic.businessinsider.com

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• Technology, and applications of this technology, will continue to improve and evolve, providing unprecedented, global access to information, individuals, training, and opportunities.

  Maynard Webb

  Technology, Opportunity, Training

  Maynard Webb, Carlye Adler (2013). “Rebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship”, p.33, John Wiley & Sons

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