Near the end of Heinz Schirk’s film on the Wannsee Conference, Heydrich tells Eichmann to “be as clear as necessary and as vague as possible” in the execution of his duty. This statement is a formulation of the principle of the lie that breeds death and is directly opposed to education’s quest for the truth that sanctifies life. Where the affirmation of the truth of the sacred is concerned, one must be as clear as possible and only as vague as necessary.

–David Patterson, When Learned Men Murder, 24