I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, and that the return of this information to the public marks my end.
Edward SnowdenAnd that's not something I'm willing to support, it's not something I'm willing to build and it's not something I'm willing to live under.
Edward SnowdenI 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.
Edward SnowdenIt's much more important for U.S. to be able to defend against foreign attacks than it is to be able to launch successful attacks against foreign adversaries.
Edward SnowdenYou can't come up against the world's most powerful intelligence agencies and not accept the risk. If they want to get you, over time they will.
Edward SnowdenWe don't have a great clash of civilizations, a clash of ideologies, a clash of alternative models, where governments thought to themselves, if we go too far, if we sort of trample unreasonably on rights, we'll give birth to a political movement which will cost us our credibility, and will possibly cost us our offices, because people will vote for the other team, the other guys.
Edward Snowden