Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

Linguist, Philosopher, Activist

Noam Chomsky is a renowned linguist and political activist known for his critiques of media and power structures, particularly through his work 'Manufacturing Consent.'

People Thinking War Country Mean Government
Born
December 7, 1928
Quotes
1.7K
Rank
#238

Quote collection

Noam Chomsky quotes (page 14 of 84)

1.7K quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"There's an interesting question, whether the anarchists had alternatives [in Spain]. If they did tend to support the government that had been destroyed, what were the alternatives? There was actually a proposal by Camillo Berneri, an Italian anarchist who was in Spain at the time, which is not a crazy notion in my opinion. He opposed participation in government and was against the formation of an army, meaning a major army to fight [Francisco] Franco."

Crazy Fighting Army
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever."

Hero Imagination Forever
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"As for academics, I do not see why their responsibilities as moral agents should differ in principle from the responsibilities of others; in particular, others who also enjoy a degree of privilege and power, and therefore have the responsibilities that are conferred by those advantages."

Responsibility Privilege Principles
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"The Obama administration is dedicated to increasing terrorism. In fact, he is doing it all over the world. Obama is running the biggest terrorist operation that exists, maybe in history. The drone assassination campaigns - which are just part of the special forces operations and so on - all of these operations are terror operations."

Running Special Administration
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Anarcho-capitalism, in my opinion, is a doctrinal system which, if ever implemented, would lead to forms of tyranny and oppression that have few counterparts in human history. There isn't the slightest possibility that its (in my view, horrendous) ideas would be implemented, because they would quickly destroy any society that made this colossal error. The idea of 'free contract' between the potentate and his starving subject is a sick joke, perhaps worth some moments in an academic seminar exploring the consequences of (in my view, absurd) ideas, but nowhere else."

Errors Views Ideas
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"When I was a boy, we were the only Jewish family in a terribly anti-Semitic neighborhood. Those streets weren't any fun for us but our parents never found that out. In a way, you avoid telling your parents what happened to you during those days."

Fun Boys Parent
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"During the 1960s, large groups of people who are normally passive and apathetic began to try to enter the political arena to press their demands.... The naive might call that democracy, but that's because they don't understand. The sophisticated understand that that's the crisis of democracy."

People Political Democracy
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom."

Thinking Challenges Hierarchy
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Anarchism, in my view, is an expression of the idea that the burden of proof is always on those who argue that authority and domination are necessary. They have to demonstrate, with powerful argument, that that conclusion is correct. If they cannot, then the institutions they defend should be considered illegitimate. How one should react to illegitimate authority depends on circumstances and conditions: there are no formulas."

Powerful Views Expression
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"People are dangerous. If they're able to involve themselves in issues that matter, they may change the distribution of power, to the detriment of those who are rich and privileged."

Power Issues People
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"In Europe there's an dangerous growth of ultra xenophobia which is pretty threatening to any one who remembers the history of Europe... and an attack on the remnants of the welfare state. It's hard to interpret the austerity-in-the-midst-of-recession policy as anything other than attack on the social contract."

Xenophobia Europe Growth
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"So, at one extreme you have indigenous, tribal societies trying to stem the race to disaster. At the other extreme, the richest, most powerful societies in world history, like the United States and Canada, are racing full-speed ahead to destroy the environment as quickly as possible."

Powerful Race Racing
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"The very design of neoliberal principles is a direct attack on democracy."

Design Democracy Principles
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Naming our murder weapons after victims of our crimes: Apache, Tomahawk... It's as if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes 'Jew' and 'Gypsy.'"

Weapons Gypsy Fighter
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"It is not a war. It is murder."

War Murder
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"We can imagine a society in which no one could survive as a social being because it does not correspond to biologically determined perceptions and human social needs. For historical reasons, existing societies might have such properties, leading to various forms of pathology."

Historical Perception Society
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Haiti, which has been the main target of US intervention throughout the 20th century, is the poorest. And Guatemala, which is maybe the third major target of US intervention, probably ranks third poorest."

Target Haiti Guatemala
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Scientists generally, not just evolutionary biologists, don't take much for granted."

Granted Scientist Biologist
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"For fifty years, we heard NATO is necessary to save Western Europe from the Russian hordes, you know the slave state, stuff I was taking about. In 1990-91, no Russian hordes. Okay, what happens? Well there are actually visions of the future system that were presented. One was [Mikhail] Gorbachev. He called for a Eurasian security system, with no military blocs. He called it a Common European Home. No military blocs, no Warsaw Pact. Just an integrated security system with no conflicts.Now the other vision was presented by George Bush, this is the "statesman"."

Military Home Security Systems
Read quote 9 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Popular

"Armed attack has a definition in international law. It means sudden, overwhelming, instantaneous ongoing attack."

Mean Law Ongoing
Read quote 9 likes