Edward Snowden

That's the beauty of the Internet is that we're no longer tied to our communities by physical connections. ”

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. ”

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. ”

Even though we may focus first on the rights of our own country, that does not mean that we should disregard the rights of everyone else. ”

We're losing our way as a society. If we don't stand up, if we don't say what we think those rights should be, and if we don't protect them, we will very soon find out that we do not have them. ”

I did not seek to sell U.S. secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice. ”

Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to break a law. And the key there is in terms of civil disobedience. You have to make sure that what you're risking, what you're bringing onto yourself, does not serve as a detriment to anyone else. It doesn't hurt anybody else. ”

What does that mean for a society, for a democracy, when the people that you elect on the basis of promises can basically suborn the will of the electorate? ”

My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them. ”

When you are subverting the power of government, that's a fundamentally dangerous thing to democracy. ”