How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"You know what my spouse said to me years ago when we got married? She said that whenever we were apart, for instance when I might go on a business trip, I should behave as if there were a camera on me. As if she were watching. Way back when, she was saying this in a purely conceptual way, and she was half-kidding, but the mental picture helped me. If I found myself alone in a room with a woman colleague, I would wonder, What would Karen think of this if she were watching from a closed-circuit camera?" (1.44.141)
Here's a stumper for you, Shmoopers: is there a difference between imagining that a loved one is watching you and knowing for realsies that anyone might actually be watching you? Personally, we think there is. And although we can't say so for sure, we're willing to bet that Dave Eggers does, too.
Quote #8
"Mae," he said, "I truly believe that if we have no path but the right path, the best path, then that would present a kind of ultimate and all-encompassing relief. We don't have to be tempted by darkness anymore. Forgive me for putting it in moral terms. That's the Midwestern church-goer in me. But I'm a believer in the perfectibility of human beings. I think we can be better. I think we can be perfect or near to it. And when we become our best selves, the possibilities are endless." (1.44.161)
Here's another stumper for you, Shmoopers: if The Circle is suggesting that truly moral and ethical behaviors can't be inspired by fear or discovery or desire for praise, then what should inspire them? In other words, what makes moral and ethical behaviors truly moral?
Quote #9
"It was just selfish, Eamon. It was selfish and nothing more. The same way a child doesn't want to share her favorite toy. I understand that secrecy is part of, well, an aberrant behavior system. It comes from a bad place, not a place of light and generosity. And when you deprive your friends […] of experiences like I had, you're basically stealing from them. You're depriving them of something they have a right to. Knowledge is a basic human right. Equal access to all possible human experience is a basic human right." (1.45.103)
One of the scariest things about The Circle is how easily figureheads like Eamon Bailey are able to construct new moral systems for their acolytes. The problem isn't just that the Circle encourages its users to engage in immoral and unethical behaviors—the bigger problem is that the company has made those behaviors seem good.