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.

Senator Wyden continues to be the Senate's truest champion of an open Internet.

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.

Through the Internet, I've developed a strong social network - something I could never do if I had to keep my choice of peers within school grounds.

The Open Access Movement has fought valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it.

I have developed my most meaningful relationships online. None of them live within driving distance. None of them are about my own age.

Even among those who I would not count as 'friends,' I have met many people online who have simply commented on my work or are interested by what I do.

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.

We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file-sharing networks.

Social Security got passed because John D. Rockefeller was sick of having to take money out of his profits to pay for his workers' pension funds. Why do that, when you can just let the government take money from the workers?

When I go to a library and I see the librarian at her desk reading, I'm afraid to interrupt her, even though she sits there specifically so that she may be interrupted, even though being interrupted for reasons like this by people like me is her very job.

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.