Bashir: But that was two hundred years ago. Are you telling me you've been working on your own ever since? Without specific orders? Accountable to nobody but yourselves?
Bashir: Isn't it? Because if what you say to me is true, you function as judge, jury and executioner, and I think that's too much power for anyone.
SLOAN: I admit it takes exceptional people to do what we do. People who can sublimate their own ambitions to the best interests of the Federation. People like you.
Sloan: Well, you're intelligent, you're resourceful, you've always been fascinated by covert operations. Why else would you spend so much time in Quark's holosuites playing spy?
Sloan: We're on the same team. We believe in the same principles that every other Federation citizen holds dear.
SLOAN: Hundreds? Thousands? Do you suppose that those people give a damn that you lied to get into Starfleet Medical? I doubt it. We deal with threats to the Federation that jeopardize its very survival. If you knew how many lives we've saved, I think you'd agree that the ends do justify the means. I'm not afraid of bending the rules every once in a while if the situation warrants it, and I don't think you are either.