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
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.
Interpretation
Being labeled negatively by authority figures can sometimes signify a commitment to truth and justice.
In this quote, Edward Snowden reflects on the idea that being called a 'traitor' by someone like Dick Cheney—a controversial political figure—can actually be considered a badge of honor for those who stand against unjust practices. Snowden implies that criticism from figures associated with authority often indicates that one is on the right path, as it suggests a willingness to expose uncomfortable truths that those in power wish to keep hidden.
In practice
This quote can be shared in discussions about whistleblowers and the courage it takes to reveal truths.
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.
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.
I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can't allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal. I'm not going to be part of that.
But what of black women?... I most sincerely doubt if any other race of women could have brought its fineness up through so devilish a fire.
If someone tried to deprive you of your rights, you've got to resist it. You've got to resent it. You've got to fight against it.
Everyone threw the blame on me ... they nearly always do. I suppose ... they think I shall be able to bear it best.
I hope to live long enough to see my surviving comrades march side by side with the Union veterans along Pennsylvania Avenue, and then I will die happy.
There are men in the world who derive an exaltation from the proximity of disaster and ruin, as other from success.
Flying is the only active profession I would ever continue with enthusiasm after the War.
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