"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"
About this Quote
Ellsberg flips the standard American hero narrative on its head: the brave act isn’t pulling a trigger, it’s pulling the pin on your own future. The line works because it’s built like a dare. “Millions” can handle the obvious, state-sanctioned courage of violence - the kind that comes with uniforms, rituals, and a ready-made script for honor. Ellsberg’s real target is the quieter cowardice that props up institutions: the reflex to protect access, résumé, and social standing even when the system is lying.
His most biting phrase isn’t “risking their careers” but “being invited to lunch by the establishment.” It’s small, almost comic, and that’s the point. He reduces elite complicity to a petty economy of prestige: invitations, proximity, the narcotic comfort of being taken seriously by powerful people. In that world, “courage” becomes not a battlefield virtue but a social one - the willingness to be excluded, mocked, professionally ruined.
Context matters: Ellsberg isn’t speaking abstractly. As the Pentagon Papers whistleblower, he’s contrasting the moral heroism of dissent with the normalized heroism of war. Vietnam is the obvious backdrop, but he name-checks Iraq to underline the repetition: different decade, same machinery, same incentives to stay quiet. The subtext is accusatory but also diagnostic. The establishment doesn’t just punish truth-tellers; it trains ambitious people to fear the loss of belonging more than the consequences of deception. Ellsberg is arguing that the scarcest bravery in modern politics is not physical risk, but social and professional self-immolation for the public record.
His most biting phrase isn’t “risking their careers” but “being invited to lunch by the establishment.” It’s small, almost comic, and that’s the point. He reduces elite complicity to a petty economy of prestige: invitations, proximity, the narcotic comfort of being taken seriously by powerful people. In that world, “courage” becomes not a battlefield virtue but a social one - the willingness to be excluded, mocked, professionally ruined.
Context matters: Ellsberg isn’t speaking abstractly. As the Pentagon Papers whistleblower, he’s contrasting the moral heroism of dissent with the normalized heroism of war. Vietnam is the obvious backdrop, but he name-checks Iraq to underline the repetition: different decade, same machinery, same incentives to stay quiet. The subtext is accusatory but also diagnostic. The establishment doesn’t just punish truth-tellers; it trains ambitious people to fear the loss of belonging more than the consequences of deception. Ellsberg is arguing that the scarcest bravery in modern politics is not physical risk, but social and professional self-immolation for the public record.
Quote Details
| Topic | Honesty & Integrity |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
More Quotes by Daniel
Add to List
