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Above all, I would teach him to tell the truth. Truth-telling, I have found, is the key to responsible citizenship. The thousands of criminals I have seen in 40 years of law enforcement have had one thing in common: Every single one was a liar.

— J. Edgar Hoover

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More quotes by J. Edgar Hoover

I always thought this Marston was a phony.

Banks are an almost irresistible attraction for that element of our society which seeks unearned money.

Just the minute the FBI begins making recommendations on what should be done with its information, it becomes a Gestapo.

Justice is merely incidental to law and order [...] Law and order is what covers the whole picture.

We are a fact-gathering organization only. We don’t clear anybody. We don’t condemn anybody.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: J. Edgar Hoover (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.