Terry Gilliam Quotes

It strikes me there's a bunch of people in power who have really strong intentions of running the world and adjusting the world to exactly how they see it.

And everything is controlled and everybody is a member of some committee, because then their watchdogs placed in the committees can control everything, what this person says or how this person think(s), you know.

You know, you can't make the people do what you want them to do.

We must form men so that they can only will what we wish them to will.

A citizenry that is aware of always being watched quickly becomes a compliant and fearful one.

It was a good thing to have a couple of thousand people all rigid and frozen together, in the palm of one's hand.

My job is to persuade people to toe the line and play within the laws of the game.

One of the main ways that leadership stays in power is by, in various ways, convincing people that they should just let those who are in government govern: 'Trust us. Trust me. Just let us take care of things. Stay out of it.' Your opinions don't really matter. You are isolated. You are insignificant.

Baseball regards us as sheep.

If they can talk to you over a secure telephone line, then you have to do what they want.

The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.

For your own good" is a persuasive argument that will eventually make man agree to his own destruction.

The priest accustoms the child to the idea of law, to make it obey better what he calls the "divine law," and the lawyer prates of divine law, that the civil law may be the better obeyed.

We lead them to believe that we are in complete control over every aspect of their lives.

We have a free society, and the totalitarian states are dungeons. We have totally different methods of population control…. We can’t control people so we have to control what they think.

Religions are manipulated in order to serve those who govern society and not the other way around.

Those who fear men like laws.

It is the nature of government and of technology to establish control.

Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.

It turns out we are all quite easily swayed if someone knows what they are doing - which is a great thing and a dangerous thing.

We should not be comfortable or content in a society where the only way to remain free of surveillance and repression is if we make ourselves as unthreatning, passive, and compliant as possible.

The rules your parents teach you to live by are very different than the rules the world actually runs by. Most of the conventional wisdom is not only wrong, it's a lie told to us by people who want to control us. It doesn't help us, it helps them. Pretty much everything we're told as children (and adults, really) by the established power structures in our lives are made up fairytales us to reinforce that control: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy, fat-free frozen dinners, religion, and metering lights on the highway--the list goes on

Yes, Doctor. I'll do what you say. I'll do what you all say.

An expert is someone who articulates the needs of those in power.

Obedience simulates subordination as fear of the police simulates honesty.