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
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.
Interpretation
National interests should not overshadow global human rights.
Edward Snowden's quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and valuing the rights of individuals beyond one's own national borders. While it's natural to prioritize one's own country's interests, it is crucial to maintain a commitment to universal human rights, suggesting a responsibility to advocate for justice and equality for all people, irrespective of their nationality.
In practice
During a human rights conference, this quote can serve as a reminder to prioritize global justice.
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.
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.
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 am the infinite sea, and all worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore.
Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Satan rejoiced when Adam (peace be upon him) came out of Paradise, but he did not know that when a diver sinks into the sea, he collects pearls and then rises again.
Remember that you will create peace only when you are peaceful.
We all create the person we become by our choices as we go through life. In a real sense, by the time we are adults, we are the sum total of the choices we have made.
You wake up white, and you think about certain things every day. You wake up black, and you think about certain things. You wake up Chinese, and you think certain things - but those things aren't major. What's major is that you are good at your craft.
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