"Don't ever trust the bastards" because the day you do, it could be over for you and your pax.
Complete BS.
Modern aviation is built on a system of trust, and can't possibly function any other way. You have no choice but to trust your engineers (unless you propose disassembling and rebuilding your aircraft before you fly it), your loadmaster/dispatcher/baggage loaders (unless you propose loading your own aircraft and calculating your own mass and balance), your fueller (when was the last time you fuelled your own jet transport), your crew, and so on.
The unfortunate thing is that if any of the people mentioned above screw up, you get to wear the consequences. A bit like Jim Collins ended up wearing the consequences of his Flight Ops department stuffing up. Well, partly.
It's fine to be wary, but at the end of the day you have to trust your team. Otherwise, the operation just falls apart.