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Noam Chomsky Quotes - Page 3

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Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune.

Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune.

Hero, Doctrine, Neptune

Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are, in principle, under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist, that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level. [...] Just as I'm opposed to political fascism, I am opposed to economic fascism. I think that until the major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy.

Thinking, Community, Political

"One Man’s View". Interview, chomsky.info. May, 1973.

We are hurtling towards self-destruction at an alarming rate thanks chiefly to an advertising and propaganda system that goads people from infancy towards apathy, isolation, passivity, helplessness and separation.

Self, People, Apathy

You cannot control your own population by force, but it can be distracted by consumption.

Population, Force, Consumption

We still name our military helicopter gunships after victims of genocide. Nobody bats an eyelash about that: Blackhawk. Apache. And Comanche. If the Luftwaffe named its military helicopters Jew and Gypsy, I suppose people would notice.

Military, Eyelashes, Names

David Barsamian, Noam Chomsky (2001). “Propaganda and the Public Mind: Conversations with Noam Chomsky”, p.194, Pluto Press

Hypocrites are those who apply to others the standards that they refuse to accept for themselves.

Hypocrite, Media, Politics

Noam Chomsky (2011). “Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda”, p.77, Seven Stories Press

If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.

War, Law, President

"Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media". Documentary, Biography, War, www.imdb.com. 1992.

You are responsible for the predictable consequences of your actions.

Action, Responsible, Predictable

Noam Chomsky (2013). “Understanding Power: The Indispensible Chomsky”, p.287, The New Press

It doesn't matter how much you learn in school; it's whether you learn how to go on and do things by yourself. And that can be done at any level.

School, Done

Source: www.truth-out.org

We shouldn't be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.

Hero, Ideas, Should

Interview with David Cogswell, www.davidcogswell.com. September 14, 1993.

Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative inquiry?

Creative, Inquiry, Tests

"Noam Chomsky Spells Out the Purpose of Education" by Josh Jones, www.openculture.com. November 8, 2012.

I try to encourage people to think for themselves, to question standard assumptions... Don't take assumptions for granted. Begin by taking a skeptical attitude toward anything that is conventional wisdom. Make it justify itself. It usually can't. Be willing to ask questions about what is taken for granted. Try to think things through for yourself.

Wisdom, Attitude, Taken

Institute Professor Department of Linguistics and Philosophy Noam Chomsky, Noam Chomsky, John Junkerman, Takei Masakazu (2015). “Power and Terror: Conflict, Hegemony, and the Rule of Force”, p.5, Routledge

Anyone who studies declassified documents soon becomes aware that government secrecy is largely an effort to protect policy makers from scrutiny by citizens, not to protect the country from enemies.

Country, Government, Effort

Language etches the grooves through which your thoughts must flow.

Flow, Language, Groove

The country was founded on the principle that primary role of government is to protect property from the majority, and so it remains.

Country, Government, Majority

That's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything.

Mean, Want, Propaganda

Noam Chomsky (2011). “Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda”, p.26, Seven Stories Press

The police can go to downtown Harlem and pick up a kid with a joint in the streets. But they can't go into the elegant apartments and get a stockbroker who's sniffing cocaine.

Kids, White Privilege, Racism

"Noam Chomsky: Smoke and Mirrors, or Civil Liberties Under President Obama". Interview with Mike Stivers, www.truth-out.org. April 24, 2013.

If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That's not going to happen if you care only about yourself.

People, Trying, Care

If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world.

Courage, Freedom, Opportunity

Noam Chomsky, Heinz Dieterich (1999). “Latin America: from colonization to globalization”, Ocean Pr

In the US, there is basically one party - the business party. It has two factions, called Democrats and Republicans, which are somewhat different but carry out variations on the same policies. By and large, I am opposed to those policies. As is most of the population.

Party, Two, Interesting

"The NS Interview: Noam Chomsky". Interview with Alyssa Mcdonald, www.newstatesman.com. September 13, 2010.

The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.

Kings, Military, Party

Noam Chomsky (2011). “Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order”, p.125, Seven Stories Press

If we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

Inspirational, Relationship, Freedom

Interview with John Pilger on BBC's "The Late Show", November 25, 1992.

It’s pretty ironic that the so-called ‘least advanced’ people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction.

Powerful, People, Ironic

Moral cowardice and intellectual corruption are the natural concomitants of unchallenged privilege.

Intellectual, Privilege, Moral

For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.

Powerful, Political, Crime

Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian (2010). “Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World”, p.73, Macmillan

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