"The quality of life decreases with heightened security"
About this Quote
The sentence works because it refuses melodrama. "Decreases" is clinical, almost bureaucratic, echoing the language of the very systems it critiques. And "quality of life" is intentionally broad, pulling the argument out of abstract civil-liberties territory and into the mundane: the friction of being searched, the low-grade stress of surveillance, the way public space starts to feel like a lobby you don't quite belong in.
The subtext is about tradeoffs we pretend aren't tradeoffs. "Heightened security" is rarely neutral; it tends to distribute inconvenience and suspicion unevenly, intensifying scrutiny for some bodies while reassuring others. It also trains citizens to internalize monitoring, to behave as if the camera is always just off-frame. Miller's context as a storyteller matters here: she understands that environments write scripts for people. When safety becomes the plot twist that justifies every constraint, life shrinks into risk management. The warning isn't that security is evil; it's that making it the dominant value quietly edits out spontaneity, trust, and freedom from the final cut.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Miller, Rebecca. (2026, January 16). The quality of life decreases with heightened security. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-quality-of-life-decreases-with-heightened-127572/
Chicago Style
Miller, Rebecca. "The quality of life decreases with heightened security." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-quality-of-life-decreases-with-heightened-127572/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The quality of life decreases with heightened security." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-quality-of-life-decreases-with-heightened-127572/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







