Politics Quotes by Edward Snowden

I have a somewhat sneaky way of effecting political change.

— Edward Snowden

I have no relationship with the Russian government at all.

— Edward Snowden

So many of the things we're told by the government simply aren't true.

— Edward Snowden

I'm still working for the government.

— Edward Snowden

There is a technical solution to every political problem,

— Edward Snowden

If I defected at all, I defected from the government to the public

— Edward Snowden

If the government or the parties won't address our needs, we will. It's about direct action, even civil disobedience.

— Edward Snowden

As I said before, [patriotism] is distinct from acting to benefit the government - a distinction that's increasingly lost today.

— Edward Snowden

The US government still has no idea what documents I have because encryption works

— Edward Snowden

There's a real danger in the way our representative government functions today. It functions properly only when paired with accountability.

— Edward Snowden

The only way I could be extradited is through the principle of what my lawyers call "politics trumps law."

— Edward Snowden

Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest.

— Edward Snowden

When it comes to political engagement, I'm not a politician - I'm an engineer.

— Edward Snowden

The charges [government] brought against me, for example, explicitly denied my ability to make a public-interest defense.

— Edward Snowden

Before 2013, if you said the NSA was making records of everybody's phone calls and the [Government Communications Headquarters] was monitoring lawyers…

— Edward Snowden

Our rights are not granted by governments. They are inherent to our nature. But it's entirely the opposite for governments: their privileges…

— Edward Snowden

You have ceded the concept of your own rights. You've converted them into something you get as a revocable privilege from the…

— Edward Snowden

Ultimately, if people lose their willingness to recognize that there are times in our history when legality becomes distinct from morality, we…

— Edward Snowden

Going all the way back to Daniel Ellsberg, it is clear that the government is not concerned with damage to national security,…

— Edward Snowden

Look at the reactions of liberal governments to the surveillance revelations during the last years. In the United States, we've got this…

— Edward Snowden

Too often we forget that social and political movements don't happen overnight. They don't bring change immediately - you have to build…

— Edward Snowden

I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world…

— Edward Snowden

If I and other whistleblowers are sentenced to long years in prison without so much as a chance to explain our motivations…

— Edward Snowden

At the trial of Chelsea Manning, the government could point to no case of specific damage that had been caused by the…

— Edward Snowden

A political decision has been made not to irritate the intelligence community. The spy agencies are really embarrassed, they're really sore -…

— Edward Snowden

Society really seems to have developed an unquestioning obedience towards spooky types… Did we get to where we are today via a…

— Edward Snowden

I think that's actually what's missing from government, for the most part. We've got a lot of policy people, but we have…

— Edward Snowden

We don't have a great clash of civilizations, a clash of ideologies, a clash of alternative models, where governments thought to themselves,…

— Edward Snowden

The reality is if we sit back and allow a few officials behind closed doors to launch offensive attacks without any oversight…

— Edward Snowden

I'm not a politician, and I do not think I am as effective in this way as people who actually prepare for…

— Edward Snowden

As for my personal politics, some people seem to think I'm some kind of archlibertarian, a hyper-conservative.

— Edward Snowden

What the government wants is something they never had before. They want total awareness. The question is, is that something we should…

— Edward Snowden

I have had no contact with the Chinese government. I only work with journalists.

— Edward Snowden

I know the media likes to personalize political debates, and I know the government will demonize me.

— Edward Snowden

It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.

— Edward Snowden

The big tech companies understood that the government had not only damaged American principles, it had hurt their businesses.

— Edward Snowden

There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example…

— Edward Snowden

All the governments just want to have more power when it comes to economic espionage, diplomatic manipulation and political influence.

— Edward Snowden

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

— Edward Snowden

I told the government I'd volunteer for prison, as long as it served the right purpose,

— Edward Snowden