--- title: "1 Know Government Quotes By Garry Wills" description: "1 Know Government quotes by Garry Wills. Plus more from Garry Wills and more Know Government sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/garry-wills-18365_accountability_accountability-is-the-essence-of-democra_803153.jpg" --- > [Accountability is the essence of democracy. If people do not know what their government is doing, they cannot be truly self-governing. The national security state assumes the government secrets are too important to be shared, that only those in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/accountability-is-the-essence-of-democracy-if-people-do-not-know-what/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/garry-wills-18365_accountability_accountability-is-the-essence-of-democra_803153.jpg) ## More by Garry Wills > [There is a particular danger with a war that God commands. What if God should lose?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/there-is-a-particular-danger-with-a-war-that-god-commands-what-if-god/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [I have been an outsider in journalism and in the academy, because I never fully belonged to any of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/i-have-been-an-outsider-in-journalism-and-in-the-academy-because-i/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Do not touch anything unnecessarily. Beware of pretty girls in dance halls and parks who may be spies, as well as bicycles, revolvers, uniforms,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/do-not-touch-anything-unnecessarily-beware-of-pretty-girls-in-dance/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [“You will hear everlastingly, in all discussions about newspapers, companies, aristocracies, or party politics, this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/you-will-hear-everlastingly-in-all-discussions-about-newspapers/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [There's an interesting contrast between born Catholics and converts. Converts are often much more rule-directed. Catholicism isn't something that they breathed in from their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/there-s-an-interesting-contrast-between-born-catholics-and-converts/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leader and followers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/the-leader-is-one-who-mobilizes-others-toward-a-goal-shared-by-leader/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Religion embarrasses the commentators. It is offbounds. An editor of the old Life magazine once assigned me a book on religion with remark that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/religion-embarrasses-the-commentators-it-is-offbounds-an-editor-of/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [I don't really write for an audience. I just write what the subject seems to me to require.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/i-don-t-really-write-for-an-audience-i-just-write-what-the-subject/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Only the winners decide what were war crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/only-the-winners-decide-what-were-war-crimes/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Accountability is the essence of democracy. If people do not know what their government is doing, they cannot be truly self-governing. The national security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/accountability-is-the-essence-of-democracy-if-people-do-not-know-what/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [I don't get far enough into a boring book to hate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/i-don-t-get-far-enough-into-a-boring-book-to-hate-it/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [To "bear arms" is, in itself, a military term. One does not bear arms against a rabbit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/to-bear-arms-is-in-itself-a-military-term-one-does-not-bear-arms/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Politicians make good company for a while just as children do - their self-enjoyment is contagious. But they soon exhaust their favourite subjects -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/politicians-make-good-company-for-a-while-just-as-children-do-their/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [The romantic artist, off alone in his storm-battered castle, fuming whole worlds from his brain, reflects his culture's most persistent myth, of God creating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/the-romantic-artist-off-alone-in-his-storm-battered-castle-fuming/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [I would rather listen to plays in the car than read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/i-would-rather-listen-to-plays-in-the-car-than-read-them/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/#itemlist", "name": "1 Know Government Quotes By Garry Wills", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Accountability is the essence of democracy. If people do not know what their government is doing, they cannot be truly self-governing. The national security state assumes the government secrets are too important to be shared, that only those in the know can see classified information, that only the president has all the facts, that we must simply trust that our rulers of acting in our interest.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Garry Wills" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/accountability-is-the-essence-of-democracy-if-people-do-not-know-what/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/garry-wills-18365_accountability_accountability-is-the-essence-of-democra_803153.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/garry-wills-18365_accountability_accountability-is-the-essence-of-democra_803153.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/garry-wills-18365_accountability_accountability-is-the-essence-of-democra_803153.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Accountability is the essence of democracy. If people do not know what their government is doing, they…” — Garry Wills", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/", "name": "Know Government Quotes by Garry Wills", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/garry-wills-18365_accountability_accountability-is-the-essence-of-democra_803153.jpg" }, "description": "1 Know Government quotes by Garry Wills. Plus more from Garry Wills and more Know Government sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Know Government", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Garry Wills", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-government/garry-wills/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```