Distrust
Distrust (or mistrust) is a formal way of not trusting any one party too much in a situation of grave risk or deep doubt. It is commonly expressed in civics as a division or balance of powers, or in politics as means of validating treaty terms. Systems based on distrust simply divide the responsibility so that checks and balances can operate. The phrase "Trust, but verify" refers specifically to distrust.
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Famous quotes containing the word distrust:
“There can be no doubt that distrust of words is less harmful than unwarranted trust in them. Besides, to distrust words, and indict them for the horrors that might slumber unobtrusively within them—isn’t this, after all, the true vocation of the intellectual?”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“The reason we do not let our friends see the very bottom of our hearts is not so much distrust of them as distrust of ourselves.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“I stand for the heart. To the dogs with the head! I had rather be a fool with a heart, than Jupiter Olympus with his head. The reason the mass of men fear God, and at bottom dislike Him, is because they rather distrust His heart, and fancy Him all brain like a watch.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)