On Trust

Trust is a vital issue in our society, more so lately as we communicate online with strangers whose premises and motives are unknown to us. More and more tweets, emails and LinkedIn messages come to us from unknown sources for reasons that may be friendly, but may also be hostile. Some are scams; some are cyberattacks on our businesses. Personal relationships are built on trust but trust can be betrayed. So many of us who put our trust in government, companies, charitable institutions, media outlets, and fundamental human values have felt hoodwinked at times. I have a stake in trust because I have seen strong friendships fall apart over differences in political opinion, differences in religious beliefs, differences in how we interpret the news. We are all unique individuals, and, sometimes, that uniqueness gets in the way of trust. I, personally, value diversity of opinion but, in today's climate, there seems to be a mandate to follow a party line. Free thinkers aren't trusted. For all these reasons, I have researched and compiled in this book some of the most relevant quotations about trust throughout the ages. I hope that this wisdom of the ages will help people trust the trustworthy and remain wary of the criminals. There is a quotation here for most every situation. Always remember that ancient Russian proverb, "Trust but Verify".