Authors:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Noam Chomsky Quotes

All Quotes Abuse Achievement Acting Activism Advertising Age Alcohol Anarchy Apathy Arguing Army Assumption Atheism Atheist Attitude Authority Belief Biology Capitalism Challenges Character Children Choices Church Clinton College Commitment Communication Community Conformity Country Creation Creativity Crime Criticism Culture Debate Democracy Desire Devil Dictatorship Dignity Doubt Earth Eating Economics Economy Education Effort Energy Enlightenment Environment Evil Exercise Expectations Fascism Fate Feelings Fighting Focus Free Market Free Trade Freedom Freedom Of Speech Fringe Giving Global Warming Gold Google Great Depression Greek Growing Up Growth Hard Work Hate Hatred Health Care Home Honesty Honor House Human Nature Ignorance Independence Inspirational Integrity Internet Judging Justice Killing Labor Labour Language Latin Leaving Liberty Listening Loss Lying Memories Military Navy North Korea Office Opportunity Optimism Overcoming Past Peace Perception Personality Philosophy Planning Police Politics Popular Culture Power Progress Propaganda Protest Psychology Purpose Quality Racism Reading Reality Recognition Reflection Responsibility Revolution Rhetoric Risk Running Sailing School Selling September 11 Slavery Socialism Society Speculation Speed Sports Struggle Students Study Style Suffering Survival Syria Taxes Teaching Technology Terrorism Tobacco Today Trade Tradition Tragedy Training Truth Tyranny Understanding Vietnam War Violence Voting Waiting Wall War Water Wealth Welfare Winning Winter Worry Worship Writing

Students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society. When you trap people in a system of debt, they can't afford the time to think.

Students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society. When you trap people in a system of debt, they can't afford the time to think.

Change, Education, Time

The general population doesn't know what's happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know.

Population, Knows, Happenings

Noam Chomsky (2013). “How the World Works”, p.78, Soft Skull Press

The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.

Smart, Thinking, Views

Noam Chomsky (2013). “How the World Works”, p.234, Soft Skull Press

Nobody is going to pour truth into your brain. It's something you have to find out for yourself.

Truth, Brain

David Barsamian, Noam Chomsky (2001). “Propaganda and the Public Mind: Conversations with Noam Chomsky”, p.145, Pluto Press

As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.

Powerful, Long, Hatred

Noam Chomsky (2016). “Who Rules the World?”, p.54, Metropolitan Books

He who controls the media controls the minds of the public.

Media, Media Control, Mind

Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.

Leadership, Believe, Responsibility

The key element of social control is the strategy of distraction that is to divert public attention from important issues and changes decided by political and economic elites, through the technique of flood or flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information.

Keys, Issues, Political

The indoctrination is so deep that educated people think they’re being objective.

Thinking, People, Indoctrination

"On Fake News and Other Societal Woes". Interview with Irene, chomsky.info. December 7, 2005.

Democratic societies can't force people. Therefore they have to control what they think.

Thinking, People, Force

It takes one minute to tell a lie, and an hour to refute it.

Lying, Hours, Minutes

Governments will use whatever technology is available to combat their primary enemy - their own population.

Technology, Government, Enemy

"NSA surveillance is an attack on American citizens, says Noam Chomsky" by Fiona Harvey, www.theguardian.com. June 19, 2013.

The public is not to see where power lies, how it shapes policy, and for what ends. Rather, people are to hate and fear one another.

Lying, Hate, People

"Let's stay chummy, Chomsky" by Pat Kane, www.independent.co.uk. June 22, 1997.

A captured pirate was brought before Alexander the Great. “How dare you molest the sea?” asked Alexander. “How dare you molest the whole world?” the pirate replied, and continued: “Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an emperor.

Sea, Pirate, Navy

If you are not offending people who ought to be offended, you're doing something wrong.

Offended You, Offending, People

Far from creating independent thinkers, schools have always, throughout history, played an institutional role in a system of control and coercion. And once you are well educated you have already been socialized in ways that support the power structure, which, in turn, rewards you immensely.

School, Independent, Creating

Noam Chomsky (2004). “Chomsky on Mis-Education”, p.16, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

How it is we have so much information, but know so little?

Littles, Information, Knows

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

May, Limits, Humans

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people.

Mother, People, Drug

Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

That's the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don't work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital.

Hands, People, Technique

If voting could actually change anything, it would be illegal.

Voting, Would Be, Illegal

It’s ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They’re totalitarian institutions - you take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There’s about as much freedom as under Stalinism.

Freedom, Power, Government

Noam Chomsky (2013). “How the World Works”, p.217, Soft Skull Press

There's a good reason why nobody studies history, it just teaches you too much.

Edification, Too Much, Reason Why

KGNU benefit at the University of Colorado at Boulder, April 05, 2003.

Jingoism, racism, fear, religious fundamentalism: these are the ways of appealing to people if you're trying to organize a mass base of support for policies that are really intended to crush them.

Crush, Religious, Racism

"Understanding Power". Book by Noam Chomsky, 2002.

The world is a very puzzling place. If you're not willing to be puzzled, you just become a replica of someone else's mind.

Mind, World, Willing

"Animating Noam Chomsky: French Director Michel Gondry on New Film “Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?". Interview with Michel Gondry, www.democracynow.org. December 3, 2013.

1
2
3
4
Next

You May Also Like: