Noam Chomsky Quotes

Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.

Whoever sets the agenda controls the outcome of the debate

It may be beyond the limits of human intelligence to understand how human intelligence works.

For the totalitarian mind, adherence to state propaganda does not suffice: one must display proper enthusiasm while marching in the parade.

States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.

If there are lessons to be drawn from the sciences, then that should be the concern of everyone, including scientists to the extent that they can make a contribution.

I mean you look back at American history and American culture, it's pretty striking. I mean this has been the safest country in the world forever, and the most frightened country in the world.

Language etches the grooves through which your thoughts must flow.

The answer to subversion of democracy is more democracy, more freedom, more justice.

[Antonio] Gramsci's words and actions explain their assessment, though I think we should refrain from using the term "model intellectual" for him or others.

Popular support for alternative energy has been very high for years. But it harms corporate profits.

Isaiah Berlin described the intellectuals of [Mikhail] Bakunin's "Red bureaucracy" as a "secular priesthood.

It's only terrorism if they do it to us. When we do much worse to them, it's not terrorism.

Unlimited economic growth has the marvelous quality of stilling discontent while maintaining privilege, a fact that has not gone unnoticed among liberal economists.

The intellectual is an individual with a specific public role in society that cannot be reduced simply to . . a faceless professional.

Technology provides means for expression and interchange and so on, so yes it should be free and open, but there are a lot of constraints on how its used.

Human language is nothing like the signalling systems of other animals.

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss.

Sea level rise and destruction of water resources as glaciers melt alone may have horrendous human consequences.

I think we can be reasonably confident that if the American population had the slightest idea of what is being done in their name, they would be utterly appalled.

It's very common for the victims to understand a system better than the people who are holding the stick.

Internal security means something. It means war against your own population.

If you want to scare people, you talk about evil.

If kids are studying for a test, they're not going to learn anything. We all know that from our own experience.

The murder of Lumumba, in which the U.S. was involved, in the Congo destroyed Africa's major hope for development. Congo is now total horror story, for years.

It is important to bear in mind that political campaigns are designed by the same people who sell toothpaste and cars.

In many respects, the United States is a great country. Freedom of speech is protected more than in any other country. It is also a very free society.

One of the major differences I see in the political climate today is that there is less collective support for coming to critical consciousness – in communities, in institutions, among friends.

Women didn't have rights. Under British common law, women were property.

Democracy is a danger to any powerful group.

The drones are a terrorist weapon, they not only kill targets but also terrorise other people.

In much of the world the U.S. is regarded as a leading terrorist state.

Anti-union propaganda has been considerably more successful here [ in the U.S.] than in Europe, even among working people who would benefit [from] unions.

There is a big difference between tweeting to your friend about something that is happening and having a real personal relationship with people.

Governments are not representative.

With regard to freedom of expression there are basically two positions: you defend it vigorously for views you hate, or you reject it in favor of Stalinist/Fascist standards.

A lot of the people involved in the media are very serious, honest people, and they will tell you, and I think they are right, that they are not being forced to write anything.

The one state/two state debate is irrelevant as Israel and the US consolidate Greater Israel.

Latin America, for the first time in 500 years, is moving towards a degree of independence.

My feeling is that if any Republican was elected it would be almost a death knell for the species literally, just because of their attitude on climate change.

I don't say you're self-censoring - I'm sure you believe everything you're saying; but what I'm saying is, if you believed something different, you wouldn't be sitting where you're sitting.

How do I define God? I don't.... People who find such conceptions important for themselves have every right to frame them as they like. Personally, I don't.

The escalation to attack undefended civilian targets is just a classic illustration of terrorism.

Independent development can be a virus that can infect others.

Radical Islamist extremists surely hope that an attack on Iraq will kill many people and destroy much of the country, providing recruits for terrorist actions.

An effective regulatory system today would be one guided by a few basic premises that can be applied flexibly but also universally.

When I was ten years old I wanted to be a taxidermist for some reason, don't ask me why.

There are very deep and restrictive principles that determine the nature of human language and are rooted in the specific character of the human mind

The [Ronald] Reagan administration picked up the rhetoric of the anti-nuclear movement; they said "Yyeah, you're right." We have to eliminate nuclear weapons.

U.S. analysts estimate that Russian military expenditures have tripled during the Bush-Putin years, in large measure a predicted reaction to the Bush administration's militancy and aggressiveness.