It's important that we elevate and primarily focus on the rights of American citizens, but it's also important that we don't forget, 95 percent of the world's population lives beyond our own borders.
Edward SnowdenRead
My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate.
Interpretation
This quote reflects Snowden's desire for accountability and justice in the face of his decision to expose governmental surveillance.
Edward Snowden's quote reveals his courageous stance on seeking judgment from both the legal system and the public regarding his actions taken to inform them about the extent of government surveillance. His words suggest a deep commitment to transparency and the belief that individuals and institutions should be held accountable for their actions, ultimately appealing to a collective conscience about privacy and freedom.
In practice
This quote can be used during a discussion about whistleblowers and the importance of exposing corruption.
It's important that we elevate and primarily focus on the rights of American citizens, but it's also important that we don't forget, 95 percent of the world's population lives beyond our own borders.
I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal.
Congress hasn't declared war on the countries - the majority of them are our allies - but without asking for public permission, NSA is running network operations against them that affect millions of innocent people. And for what? So we can have secret access to a computer in a country we're not even fighting?
A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.
Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American, and the more panicked talk we hear from people like him... the better off we all are.
I don't see myself as a hero because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.
Playing Etta James in the movie 'Cadillac Records' really changed me. It was a darker character, and I realized that if anything is too comfortable, I want to run from it. It's no fun being safe.
You have to run risks. There are no certainties in war. There is a precipice on either side of you - a precipice of caution and a precipice of over-daring.
Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.
On becoming soldiers we have not ceased to be citizens.
Return to your friends and tell them that we came here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, and determined to avenge our own wrongs and set our country free. Let your masters come and attack us: we are ready to meet them beard to beard.
You can get claustrophobia and agoraphobia - a fear of wide, open spaces - simultaneously on a spacewalk.
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