Quotes from Edward Snowden

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.

I would rather be without a state than without a voice.

A lot of people in 2008 voted for Obama. I did not vote for him. I voted for a third party. But I believed in Obama's promises.

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?

The NSA has the greatest surveillance capabilities in American history... The real problem is that they're using these capabilities to make us vulnerable.

It may be that by watching everywhere we go, by watching everything we do, by analyzing every word we say, by waiting and passing judgment over every association we make and every person we love, that we could uncover a terrorist plot, or we could discover more criminals. But is that the kind of society we want to live in?

I do agree that when it comes to cyber warfare, we have more to lose than any other nation on earth.

There are more important things than money. If I were motivated by money, I could have sold these documents to any number of countries and gotten very rich.

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

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

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

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

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

I have been to the darkest corners of government, and what they fear is light.

The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything.

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

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

I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong.

I do not expect to see home again.

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

They are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them.

The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help any more. That's what keeps me up at night.

Even if you're not doing anything wrong, you are being watched and recorded.

I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.