--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The dangerous secrets used to be held…" description: "\"“The dangerous secrets used to be held outside the government. Plots, conspiracies, secrets of revolution, secrets of the end of the social order. Now ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2e/don-delillo-294_conspiracies_the-dangerous-secrets-used-to-be-held-ou_1571913.jpg" --- # The dangerous secrets used to be held outside the… ![“The dangerous secrets used to be held outside the government. Plots, conspiracies, secrets of revolution, secrets of the end of the social order. Now it's the government that has a lock on the secrets that matter. All the danger is in the White House, from nuclear weapons on down.” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2e/don-delillo-294_conspiracies_the-dangerous-secrets-used-to-be-held-ou_1571913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2e/don-delillo-294_conspiracies_the-dangerous-secrets-used-to-be-held-ou_1571913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2e/don-delillo-294_conspiracies_the-dangerous-secrets-used-to-be-held-ou_1571913.jpg) > ““The dangerous secrets used to be held outside the government. Plots, conspiracies, secrets of revolution, secrets of the end of the social order. Now it's the government that has a lock on the secrets that matter. All the danger is in the White House, from nuclear weapons on down.”” [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The government now controls the most dangerous information, shifting risk from conspiracies to official power. **In simple terms:** State holds dangerous secrets now. Key Takeaway Beware concentration of power. Themes politics power secrecy Mood cautious critical Type political analytical When to use this quote - national security - public policy - media analysis Key Concepts surveillance authoritarianism Questions to Reflect On - Who monitors those who hold secrets? - What safeguards exist for dangerous knowledge? A Different Perspective Power can be abused without accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conspiracies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conspiracies/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Dangerous Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous-secrets-3022008/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Plots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-plots-5919148/) [Nuclear weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-weapons/) [Outside Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-government-1830036/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Secrets Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets-matter-5919146/) [Secrets Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets-revolution-5919147/) [Social order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-order/) [White house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-house/) ## Related quotes > [“We all have secrets we keep locked away from the rest of the world... Friendships we pretend... Relationships we hide... But worst of all...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-thorne/we-all-have-secrets-we-keep-locked-away-from-the-rest-of-the-world/) [Emily Thorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-thorne/) > [...Promises are more dangerous then secrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-friedman/promises-are-more-dangerous-then-secrets/) [Aimee Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-friedman/) > [“We will follow the bullet trajectories backwards to the lives that occupy the shadows, actual men who moan in their dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-will-follow-the-bullet-trajectories-backwards-to-the-lives-that/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/if-we-are-on-the-outside-we-assume-a-conspiracy-is-the-perfect/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Perhaps we've invented conspiracies for our own psychic well-being, to heal ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/perhaps-we-ve-invented-conspiracies-for-our-own-psychic-well-being-to/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [For me, the passions and issues I care so much about are ones that lend themselves to work whether you're in government or outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-jarrett/for-me-the-passions-and-issues-i-care-so-much-about-are-ones-that/) [Valerie Jarrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-jarrett/) > [To have opposition ? We have it, and you can go and meet with them. 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I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mechai-viravaidya/i-left-the-government-because-i-saw-the-only-way-to-get-family/) [Mechai Viravaidya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mechai-viravaidya/) > [Israel is a start-up nation, and I think it can be done in other places. I will do it outside the government. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/israel-is-a-start-up-nation-and-i-think-it-can-be-done-in-other/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) ## More by Don DeLillo > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. 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When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. 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He has thin skin and is impulsive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/donald-trump-believes-in-conspiracies-he-has-thin-skin-and-is/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [“We are always in a constant state of conspiracies, at least thats what they keep telling us...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-brashear/we-are-always-in-a-constant-state-of-conspiracies-at-least-thats-what/) [Faith Brashear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-brashear/) > [The most dangerous and successful conspiracies take place in public, in plain sight, under the clear, bright light of day -- usually with TV…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/the-most-dangerous-and-successful-conspiracies-take-place-in-public/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [In fact, I point out that all the conspiracies in history - especially during the last 5000 years - are actually different aspects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eustace-mullins/in-fact-i-point-out-that-all-the-conspiracies-in-history-especially/) [Eustace Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eustace-mullins/) > [If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/if-we-are-on-the-outside-we-assume-a-conspiracy-is-the-perfect/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Holy conspiracies, Batman!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-nicholas/holy-conspiracies-batman/) [Annie Nicholas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-nicholas/) > [“2 Hours for this conclusion is too much and it's ne big fucking lost... ... What we know about the world... people and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deyth-banger/2-hours-for-this-conclusion-is-too-much-and-it-s-ne-big-fucking-lost/) [Deyth Banger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deyth-banger/) > [There are conspiracies all over the Senate floor on any day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlen-specter/there-are-conspiracies-all-over-the-senate-floor-on-any-day/) [Arlen Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlen-specter/) > [Some of life's biggest and most positive changes are propelled by mini conspiracies of a few well-meaning folks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lown/some-of-life-s-biggest-and-most-positive-changes-are-propelled-by/) [Bernard Lown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lown/) > [“It's so far up your street it's got its tongue through your letter-box. Mum could never quite get the hang of conspiracies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-mars-jones/it-s-so-far-up-your-street-it-s-got-its-tongue-through-your-letter/) [Adam Mars-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-mars-jones/) [Browse all 74 Conspiracies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conspiracies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The dangerous secrets used to be held outside the government. Plots, conspiracies, secrets of revolution, secrets of the end of the social order. Now it's the government that has a lock on the secrets that matter. 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