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Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg Quotes

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Daniel Ellsberg, born on April 7, 1931, is an American political scientist, economist, and anti-war activist. He is known for his role in the Vietnam War, where he leaked the Pentagon Papers while serving as a senior official in the U.S. Department of Defense.

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Famous Daniel Ellsberg Quotes

“The public is lied to every day by the President, by his spokespeople, by his officers. If you can't handle the thought that the President lies to the public for all kinds of reasons, you couldn't stay in the government at that level, or you're made aware of it, a week. ... The fact is Presidents rarely say the whole truth—essentially, never say the whole truth—of what they expect and what they're doing and what they believe and why they're doing it and rarely refrain from lying, actually, about these matters.”

Vietnam War Government Corruption Politics Of The United States Washington Dc

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“I found draft resistors very conscientious, reasonable, and not fanatics.”

Found Reasonable Fanatics

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“WikiLeaks serves as a back-up for those who want to tell the truth about the inner workings of government when the mainstream media is not willing or taking too long to publish.”

Want Long Government Media Willing Telling The Truth Mainstream Publish Mainstream Media Wikileaks

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“For an American to be patriotic is to be loyal to the principles of our Constitution, and the First Amendment. The truth is that the policies of the government is sometimes in conflict with that. In our country, patriotism should not be defined as obedience to an authority.”

Should Firsts Country Sometimes Government Principles Policy Truth Is Conflict Authority Constitution Our Country Defined Obedience Patriotic Loyal Amendments First Amendment

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“It's true that most people find it far more comfortable to trust an authority than to have their faith questioned.”

People Authority Comfortable

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“But it is important always to keep in mind that the danger of harming humans is not connected only or even mainly with telling secrets, there can be great danger in keeping secrets.”

Mind Humans Important Secret Danger Connected Keeping Secrets

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“It's naive and even irresponsible for a grownup today to get her or his information about foreign policy and war and peace exclusively from the administration in power. It's essential to have other sources of information, to check those against one's own common sense, and to form your own judgment as to whether we ought to go to or persist in war.”

War Today Form Common Information Policy Source Ought Essentials Judgment Checks Common Sense Administration Foreign Policy Persist Naive Irresponsible Grownups

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“I voted for Obama and I will probably vote for him again, as opposed to the Republicans. But I believe his administration in some key aspects is nothing other than the third term of the Bush administration.”

Believe I Believe Term Republican Vote

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“If monarchy is corrupting - and it is - wait till you see what overt empire does to us.”

Ifs Doe Waiting Hero Empires Heroic Monarchy

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“If there's another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will be, the day after or within days an equivalent of a Reichstag fire decree that will involve massive detentions in this country.”

Ifs War Country Doubt Fire Middle Hero Majors East No Doubt Iran Massive Heroic Middle East Involving Decree Detention

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“Only we, the public, can force our representatives to reverse their abdication of the war powers that the Constitution gives exclusively to the Congress.”

Giving War Force Hero Constitution Congress Heroic Representatives Reverse Abdication

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“The fact is that when it comes to judgment as to what should be secret and what should not be secret, Julian Assange's judgment has been pretty good so far.”

Should Has Beens Facts Secret Beauty Hero Judgment Heroic Assange

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“You needn't think there is nothing you can do-you can tell the truth.”

Thinking Truth Can Do Telling The Truth

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“The effect of that is to poison the flow of information to the President himself and to create a situation where a President can be almost, to use a metaphor, psychotically divorced from the realities in which he is acting.”

Use Reality President Church Acting Situation Effects Information Flow Metaphor Corruption Poison Divorced

Book:Papers on the war

Source: Papers on the war

“Obama is making a choice now that will lead to the deaths of many thousands of civilians in Afghanistan by American hands. By ordinary standards of presidents, he is a decent man. But those standards aren't good enough. He's in a position either to kill or not to kill, and he's made the decision to kill.”

Men Made Enough Hands Choices President Decision Position Standards Ordinary Decent Good Enough Afghanistan Civilians Decent Man

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“I agree that there are things that should be kept secret.”

Should Secret Agree Kept Secrets

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA material – and that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago.”

Years Important Materials Paper Years Ago Release American History Papers Nsa Leaks Pentagon Estimation Snowden

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“EVERY attack now made on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was made against me and the release of the Pentagon Papers at the time.”

Made Paper Release Papers Pentagon Wikileaks Assange

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public. I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision.”

Felt My Own Decision Answers Information Citizens Consequence Responsible Prepared American Citizens Jeopardy Concealing

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“There are some things that should not be leaked without authorization.”

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“We need the courage to face the truth about what we are doing in the world and act responsibly to change it.”

World Needs Faces Facing The Truth

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“The courage we need is not the fortitude to be obedient in the service of an unjust war, to help conceal lies, to do our job for a boss who has usurped power and is acting as an outlaw government. It is the courage at last to face honestly the truth and reality of what we are doing in the world and act responsibly to change it.”

World Needs War Helping Reality Government Jobs Lasts Faces Lying Acting Honestly Boss Unjust Fortitude Obedient Outlaw Truth And Reality Unjust War

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“It is a tribute to the American people that our leaders perceived that they had to lie to us, it is not a tribute to us that we were so easily misled.”

People Lying Leader Tribute Misled

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“It is time for the rest of the world to join ... in demanding that ALL the nuclear weapons states -including Israel, India and Pakistan, but above all the US and Russia - negotiate concrete steps on a definite time-table toward the global, inspected abolition of nuclear weapons.”

World States Steps Weapons India Tables Including Israel Nuclear Russia Concrete Nuclear Weapons Definite Pakistan Disarmament Abolition India And Pakistan

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“It is urgent to prevent new U.S. aggression. The time is now for the world to say 'no' to U.S. threats of air attack against Iran, and to the very notion of a nuclear first-use 'option' by America or any other nation.”

World Firsts Use America Nations Air Threat Notion Nuclear Iran Aggression Urgent

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“My activities, for which I gratefully accept this Award, are today what they have been for over thirty-five years and will be for the rest of my life: to counter governmental secrecy about the nuclear arms race that threatens the survival of life on earth; and to help build a world movement that will prevent a first use since Nagasaki of nuclear explosions, prevent or end interventions that could lead to such an event, and bring about a world free of nuclear weapons.”

“Truth-telling to Congress and the public is not disloyal in America: it is an expression of the higher loyalty officials owe to the Constitution, the rule of law, and the sovereign public. It is a courageous, patriotic, and effective way to serve our country. The time to speak out is now.”

Way Country America Law Time Speak Expression Higher Constitution Congress Loyalty Our Country Officials Telling The Truth Courageous Patriotic Sovereign Rule Of Law Speaks Out Disloyal

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“I see Edward Snowden as someone who has chosen, at best, exile from the country he loves-with a serious risk of his assassination by agents of his government or life in prison (in solitary confinement)-to awaken us to the danger of our loss of democracy to a total-surveilla nce state”

Country States Government Loss Democracy Risk Danger Serious Prison Chosen Agents Solitary Exile Assassination Confinement Snowden Solitary Confinement

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“We were young, we were foolish, we were arrogant, but we were right.”

Young Stupid Foolish Arrogant

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“Those of us who finally saw through the Vietnam war saw through this war, and all the actions that were necessary to end the Vietnam war will be necessary here. I think the American people will get us out of this war.”

People Thinking War Ends Action Saws Vietnam Vietnam War

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“There should be at least one leak like the Pentagon Papers every year.”

Should Years Hero Paper Heroic Papers Leaks Pentagon

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“Look, all administrations, all governments lie, all officials lie and nothing they say is to be believed. That's a pretty good rule.”

Looks Government Lying Hero Administration Officials Heroic Government Lies

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“There are two types of courage involved with what I did. When it comes to picking up a rifle, millions of people are capable of doing that, as we see in Iraq or Vietnam. But when it comes to risking their careers, or risking being invited to lunch by the establishment, it turns out that's remarkably rare.”

People Two Turns Careers Millions Type Hero Involved Capable Iraq Lunch Vietnam Heroic Establishment Invited Rifles

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“Nixon did have a secret plan, and I knew that it involved making threats of nuclear war to North Vietnam.”

War Secret Plans Involved Threat Nuclear Vietnam Nuclear War Ghouls

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“This wholesale invasion of Americans’ and foreign citizens’ privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we’re trying to protect.”

Trying Doe Liberty Security Danger Citizens Protect Privacy Invasion Wholesale

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“President Johnson put destroyers in harm's way in the Tonkin Gulf not only once, but several times, with the, with a lot of his people hoping that it would lead to a confrontation and claiming that it had. And could have resulted in the lost of many lives in the course of it.”

People Way Courses Lost President Harm Johnson Confrontation Destroyers President Johnson

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

“My feelings of revulsion and foreboding about nuclear weapons had not changed an iota since 1945, and they have never left me. Since I was 14, the overriding objective of my life has been to prevent the occurrence of nuclear war.”

Has Beens War Feelings Left Changed Weapons Nuclear Objectives Nuclear Weapons Nuclear War Foreboding Revulsion

Author:Daniel Ellsberg

About the Author

Born: April 7, 1931
Known for: Author
Quotes: 37

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