Glenn Greenwald Quotes

In all of my work I'm trying to create a dialogue, in which I want to provoke the recipients, stimulate them to use their own imaginations. I don't just say things recipients want to hear, flatter their egos or comfort them by agreeing with them. I have to provoke them, to take them as seriously as I take myself.

If you agree with everything I have said, then I have failed.

You know what 'DOUBT' stands for? It stands for 'Debate On Understanding Bewildersome Thoughts.'

My approach to creating content is focused on pulling people out of their intellectual comfort zones. I'm interested in presenting ideas in unique ways that challenge people to question their assumptions.

You want to come up with your own points of view first and then test them against what you see.

I like to go after the foibles, basically of beliefs that are held without question. If people still want to believe in their stuff after that, that's great - as long as they just have a chance to step back and look at it for a second. Sometimes, you don't even realize what you've been thinking for 20 years.

I believe that a work of art, like metaphors in language, can ask the most serious, difficult questions in a way which really makes the readers answer for themselves; that the work of art far more than an essay or a tract involves the reader, challenges him directly and brings him into the argument.

The proper method for hastening the decay of error is by teaching every man to think for himself.

A powerful idea communicates some of its strength to him who challenges it.

A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good.

It is nice to be around people who think differently than you. They challenge your ideas and keep you from being complacent.

I like disagreement because it forces both sides to question their own opinions and why they feel that way.

I think film should raise questions, not give answers. I think film should challenge people to reflect, debate and get by themselves to the answer that fits them.

I won't call my work entertainment. It's exploring. It's asking questions of people, constantly. 'How much do you feel? How much do you know? Are you aware of this? Can you cope with this?' A good movie will ask you questions you don't already know the answers to. Why would I want to make a film about something I already understand?

When the intensity of emotional conviction subsides, a man who is in the habit of reasoning will search for logical grounds in favour of the belief which he finds in himself.

I like to write about things about which I have no answers, questions that trouble me. These things trouble me.

The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.

The books that help you the most are those which make you think the most.

Some of my books sort of have a provocative take. Sometimes you find interesting things about characters that show they weren't necessarily the way people usually see them. It can make for lively conversations, but that's great. Spark a little controversy, get people to think about it. That's what it's all about.

I think that when a film does its job, it poses questions rather than gives answers. It should act as a frustrating counselor who, at your bidding for advice, says, 'What do you think?' I think that's some of what the culture critic Greg Tate meant by art leaving a 'metaphysical stain.'

The beginning of thought is in disagreement - not only with others but also with ourselves.

It is only through the opposition of ideas that we can learn to be self-critical, to work towards intellectual humility.

The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths.

One must dig deeply into opposing points of view in order to know whether your own position remains defensible. Iron sharpens iron.

I don't think all comedy should be mindless. Have something that's thoughtful. Maybe some things are tongue-in-cheek; maybe some things are very direct. I like that people have to think about things. That excites me. Because if you say certain things, it starts a dialogue. Even if you disagree, it's still a dialogue.