Aaron Swartz quotes

Aaron Swartz was an American computer programmer, writer, and internet activist, influential in the development of RSS and Reddit. His advocacy for open access to information and digital rights inspired many in the tech community. He became a symbol of the fight for free information and reform of computer crime laws. Here are 24 of his quotes:

Think deeply about things. Don't just go along because that's the way things are or that's what your friends say. Consider the effects, consider the alternatives, but most importantly, just think. (Aaron Swartz)
Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. View quote
Aaron Swartz
There is no justice in following unjust laws. View quote
Aaron Swartz
Real education is about genuine understanding and the ability to figure things out on your own; not about making sure every 7th grader has memorized all the facts some bureaucrats have put in the 7th grade curriculum. View quote
Aaron Swartz
With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge - we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us? View quote
Aaron Swartz
Being around some of the bright lights of the technology world and having them expect great things helps you sit down and do it seriously. View quote
Aaron Swartz
Now, as far as I know, nobody has ever put up the U.S.'s nuclear missiles on the Internet. I mean, it's not something I've heard about. View quote
Aaron Swartz
Writing an encyclopedia is hard. To do anywhere near a decent job, you have to know a great deal of information about an incredibly wide variety of subjects. Writing so much text is difficult, but doing all the background research seems impossible. View quote
Aaron Swartz
At the end of the day, we have an economy that works for the rich by cheating the poor, and unequal schools are the result of that, not the cause. View quote
Aaron Swartz
The law about what is stealing is very clear. Stealing is taking something away from someone so they cannot use it. There's no way that making a copy of something is stealing under that definition. View quote
Aaron Swartz
There are a lot of people, a lot of powerful people, who want to clamp down on the Internet. And to be honest, there aren't a whole lot who have a vested interest in protecting it from all of that. (Aaron Swartz)
The enemies of the freedom to connect have not disappeared. View quote
Aaron Swartz
We won this fight because everyone made themselves the hero of their own story. Everyone took it as their job to save this crucial freedom. They threw themselves into it. They did whatever they could think of to do. They didn't stop to ask anyone for permission. View quote
Aaron Swartz
Geeks seem a lot more willing to treat people based on what they can do rather than who they are. View quote
Aaron Swartz
I feel that if I only convince people that the other side is a reasonable position to take, even if they themselves don't take it, then I've been a success. View quote
Aaron Swartz
On the one hand, I want to be very open about everything, On the other, I heavily defend people's right to privacy. View quote
Aaron Swartz
I'm a teenage kid who's interested in improving the world (mostly through law, politics, and technology). View quote
Aaron Swartz
The people rose up, and they caused a sea change in Washington. View quote
Aaron Swartz
There are those struggling to change this. View quote
Aaron Swartz
There's a battle going on right now, a battle to define everything that happens on the Internet in terms of traditional things that the law understands. View quote
Aaron Swartz
New technology, instead of bringing us greater freedom, would have snuffed out fundamental rights we had always taken for granted. (Aaron Swartz)
Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. View quote
Aaron Swartz
I'm a teenage kid who's interested in improving the world (mostly through law, politics, and technology). This year, I'm going to try to update my weblog daily with interesting thoughts, program some interesting new website software, and work on some website projects that help people better understand what's going on in American politics. View quote
Aaron Swartz
Geeks seem a lot more willing to treat people based on what they can do rather than who they are. This isn't unique to kids, of course. The Internet has an amazingly liberating aspect for everyone from blacks to the blind. So perhaps that's one reason why I'm especially concerned about draconian proposals for an "Internet Drivers License” or a crackdown on anonymity. Quite aside from the impracticality and ineffectiveness of these proposals, they could have the effect of tagging who people are, and reintroducing those indicators that the Internet has removed. View quote
Aaron Swartz