--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The country is not a democratic state…" description: "\"The country is not a democratic state. Therefore we fear that they might carry a recorder in their pocket or there may be bugs in the walls, and you ca..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/hans-blix-15720_absolutely_the-country-is-not-a-democratic-state-th_144496.png" --- # The country is not a democratic state. Therefore we fear… ![“The country is not a democratic state. Therefore we fear that they might carry a recorder in their pocket or there may be bugs in the walls, and you cannot be absolutely sure that you get a straight testimony.” quote by Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/hans-blix-15720_absolutely_the-country-is-not-a-democratic-state-th_144496.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/hans-blix-15720_absolutely_the-country-is-not-a-democratic-state-th_144496.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/hans-blix-15720_absolutely_the-country-is-not-a-democratic-state-th_144496.png) > “The country is not a democratic state. Therefore we fear that they might carry a recorder in their pocket or there may be bugs in the walls, and you cannot be absolutely sure that you get a straight testimony.” [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democratic societies risk losing trust when citizens suspect pervasive, hidden surveillance. **In simple terms:** Surveillance erodes trust. Key Takeaway Advocate for transparency and strong privacy protections. Themes privacy trust government surveillance Mood cautious concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - debating policy - voting on privacy laws - using encryption - monitoring media Key Concepts civil liberties state power digital security Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can protect privacy without hindering security? - How can citizens verify government transparency? A Different Perspective Balancing security needs with privacy is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bugs/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Testimony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/testimony/) ## Related quotes > [Any country is either becoming more democratic or less democratic. I think the United States hasn't tended to its journey toward democracy in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/any-country-is-either-becoming-more-democratic-or-less-democratic-i/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [In my personal opinion, Russia is no less democratic than it used to be. It is a democratic country. It is democratic enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-abramovich/in-my-personal-opinion-russia-is-no-less-democratic-than-it-used-to/) [Roman Abramovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-abramovich/) > [It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-is-almost-universally-felt-that-when-we-call-a-country-democratic/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I'm not for seizing power, I'm for justice in the country and for democratic elections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/i-m-not-for-seizing-power-i-m-for-justice-in-the-country-and-for/) [Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/) > [I think we have very steady records of President Putin, who inherited the country with democratic values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/i-think-we-have-very-steady-records-of-president-putin-who-inherited/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [People must learn more and more that the strength of this country is the democratic power of the trade union movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-foot/people-must-learn-more-and-more-that-the-strength-of-this-country-is/) [Michael Foot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-foot/) > [We don't want to govern the country without democratic institutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jovenel-moise/we-don-t-want-to-govern-the-country-without-democratic-institutions/) [Jovenel Moise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jovenel-moise/) > [In our own country, we take democratic values seriously - and so we always have a vigorous debate on the issues. That's part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/in-our-own-country-we-take-democratic-values-seriously-and-so-we/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [“my career in public life, I have had the rare privilege of being a participant in many of the defining moments of our country’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pranab-mukherjee/my-career-in-public-life-i-have-had-the-rare-privilege-of-being-a/) [Pranab Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pranab-mukherjee/) > [From that viewpoint, America, free country, democratic country, so more opportunity. Still is more sort of Alive. This is my feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/from-that-viewpoint-america-free-country-democratic-country-so-more/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The reason that the Croats want a state of their own is that they fear being cut into little pieces by the Serbs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-reason-that-the-croats-want-a-state-of-their-own-is-that-they/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear - kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor - with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/our-government-has-kept-us-in-a-perpetual-state-of-fear-kept-us-in-a/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [Americans seem to be living in a state of fear about the world, one that just keeps intensifying. I mean, look at our cars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/americans-seem-to-be-living-in-a-state-of-fear-about-the-world-one/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [“Apprehension regarding how or where to start is a state of fear that we impose upon ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-zahariades/apprehension-regarding-how-or-where-to-start-is-a-state-of-fear-that/) [Damon Zahariades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-zahariades/) > [ALL men keep ALL women in a state of fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-brownmiller/all-men-keep-all-women-in-a-state-of-fear/) [Susan Brownmiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-brownmiller/) ## More by Hans Blix > [But I would say if the Security Council is only relevant if it agrees with the United States, then we have come a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/but-i-would-say-if-the-security-council-is-only-relevant-if-it-agrees/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [If you take the biological weapons in the United States we still will have perhaps a single individual who was able to make anthrax,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/if-you-take-the-biological-weapons-in-the-united-states-we-still-will/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [We have not found any smoking guns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/we-have-not-found-any-smoking-guns/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [Never humiliate anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/never-humiliate-anyone/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [Unlike South Africa, which decided on its own to eliminate its nuclear weapons and welcomed inspection as a means of creating confidence in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/unlike-south-africa-which-decided-on-its-own-to-eliminate-its-nuclear/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [It's true the Iraqis misbehaved and had no credibility but that doesn't necessarily mean that they were in the wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/it-s-true-the-iraqis-misbehaved-and-had-no-credibility-but-that-doesn/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [You never get quite down to the bottom of the barrel, but we are much higher than that at the present time. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/you-never-get-quite-down-to-the-bottom-of-the-barrel-but-we-are-much/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [The U.N. is much more than the case of Iraq.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/the-u-n-is-much-more-than-the-case-of-iraq/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media. Not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/i-have-my-detractors-in-washington-there-are-bastards-who-spread/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [To me the question of the environment is more ominous than that of peace and war...I'm more worried about global warming than I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/to-me-the-question-of-the-environment-is-more-ominous-than-that-of/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [What surprises me, what amazes me, is that it seems the military people were expecting to stumble on large quantities of gas, chemical weapons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/what-surprises-me-what-amazes-me-is-that-it-seems-the-military-people/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [On big issues like war in Iraq, but in many other issues they simply must be multilateral. There's no other way around. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/on-big-issues-like-war-in-iraq-but-in-many-other-issues-they-simply/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [It was to do with information management. The intention was to dramatise it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/it-was-to-do-with-information-management-the-intention-was-to/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [The Iraqis are not threatened by the Turks or by the Iranians or by the Saudis and they tell me that these are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/the-iraqis-are-not-threatened-by-the-turks-or-by-the-iranians-or-by/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) > [Negotiations with Iran, especially, will not be easy under any circumstances, but I suspect that they might be somewhat less difficult if the nuclear-weapon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-blix/negotiations-with-iran-especially-will-not-be-easy-under-any/) [Hans Blix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) [Explore all 42 Hans Blix quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-blix/) ## More Absolutely quotes > [I am absolutely my own biggest critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lando-norris/i-am-absolutely-my-own-biggest-critic/) [Lando Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lando-norris/) > [The way I look at it is, cancer research is absolutely nonpartisan. 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I absolutely love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-moffatt/if-i-was-a-man-i-would-be-a-drag-queen-honestly-i-would-i-absolutely/) [Scarlett Moffatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-moffatt/) > [There's very little about being in a functional-M.R.I. scanner that is natural: you are flat on your back, absolutely still, with your head immobilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-marantz-henig/there-s-very-little-about-being-in-a-functional-m-r-i-scanner-that-is/) [Robin Marantz Henig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-marantz-henig/) > [When you're still, and some actors are really brilliant at that, you bring a kind of energy to you as opposed to sending the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-byrne/when-you-re-still-and-some-actors-are-really-brilliant-at-that-you/) [Gabriel Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-byrne/) > [I'm absolutely an Elizabeth Taylor fan!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherilyn-fenn/i-m-absolutely-an-elizabeth-taylor-fan/) [Sherilyn Fenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherilyn-fenn/) > [You can absolutely be what you can't see! 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They absolutely wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-di-maria/there-were-a-lot-of-clubs-interested-in-me-a-lot-really-but/) [Angel Di Maria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-di-maria/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I absolutely love 'TOWIE.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-collins/i-absolutely-love-towie/) [Gemma Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-collins/) > [Chucky is absolutely still a puppet. He will remain to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-dourif/chucky-is-absolutely-still-a-puppet-he-will-remain-to-be/) [Fiona Dourif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-dourif/) Browse all 1,136 Absolutely quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The country is not a democratic state. 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