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About this quote

What does it mean?
The intense scrutiny and pressure of the Salem court remove any possibility of hiding secrets.
In plain terms
The harsh environment forces the truth to surface.
What can you take from it?
Intense pressure often reveals hidden truths.

Where it applies

  • legal proceedings
  • investigations
  • interpersonal conflicts

Putting it to work

  • create transparency
  • avoid hiding truths
  • expect scrutiny

Questions to consider

  • What truths do you hide?
  • What pressure forces honesty?

Another view

Pressure can also lead to false confessions.

More from Arthur Miller

  1. Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God's fingers? I'll tell you what's walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem. We are …

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  2. A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time - we live no longer in…

    Permalink to quote #88
  3. Though our own hearts break, we cannot flinch; these are new times, sir. There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respect an…

    Permalink to quote #85

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