Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky

30 quotes

Noam Chomsky, an American linguist and activist born in 1928, is someone whose words carry as much weight as their professional legacy. Noam Chomsky's observations on Power are as sharp as their thoughts on War, revealing genuine breadth of mind. Our collection holds 45 quotes from Noam Chomsky, each offering a different angle on Power, War, Freedom, Society, and Nature. Consider this gem from Noam Chomsky: "Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism."

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

— Noam Chomsky

Fear

All Quotes by Noam Chomsky

“I remember at the age of five travelling on a trolley car with my mother past a group of women on a picket line at a textile plant, seeing them being viciously beaten by security people. So that kind of thing stayed with me.”

— Noam Chomsky

Age

“In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival.”

— Noam Chomsky

Freedom

“We can, for example, be fairly confident that either there will be a world without war or there won't be a world - at least, a world inhabited by creatures other than bacteria and beetles, with some scattering of others.”

— Noam Chomsky

War

“Humans have certain properties and characteristics which are intrinsic to them, just as every other organism does. That's human nature.”

— Noam Chomsky

Nature

“Resistance is feasible even for those who are not heroes by nature, and it is an obligation, I believe, for those who fear the consequences and detest the reality of the attempt to impose American hegemony.”

— Noam Chomsky

Fear

“There are two problems for our species' survival - nuclear war and environmental catastrophe - and we're hurtling towards them. Knowingly.”

— Noam Chomsky

Environmental

“If you are working 50 hours a week in a factory, you don't have time to read 10 newspapers a day and go back to declassified government archives. But such people may have far-reaching insights into the way the world works.”

— Noam Chomsky

Government

“If there was an observer on Mars, they would probably be amazed that we have survived this long.”

— Noam Chomsky

Amazing

“Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism.”

— Noam Chomsky

War

“Concentration of executive power, unless it's very temporary and for specific circumstances, let's say fighting world war two, it's an assault on democracy.”

— Noam Chomsky

Power

“The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history.”

— Noam Chomsky

History

“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.”

— Noam Chomsky

Freedom

“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.”

— Noam Chomsky

Fear

“The major advances in speed of communication and ability to interact took place more than a century ago. The shift from sailing ships to telegraph was far more radical than that from telephone to email!”

— Noam Chomsky

Communication

“The 'anti-globalisation movement' is the most significant proponent of globalisation - but in the interests of people, not concentrations of state-private power.”

— Noam Chomsky

Power

“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.”

— Noam Chomsky

Freedom

“The internet could be a very positive step towards education, organisation and participation in a meaningful society.”

— Noam Chomsky

Education

“In the late 1990s, some of the worst terrorist atrocities in the world were what the Turkish government itself called state terror, namely massive atrocities, 80 percent of the arms coming from the United States, millions of refugees, tens of thousands of people killed, hideous repression, that's international terror, and we can go on and on.”

— Noam Chomsky

Government

“Education must provide the opportunities for self-fulfillment it can at best provide a rich and challenging environment for the individual to explore, in his own way.”

— Noam Chomsky

Best

“Real popular culture is folk art - coalminers' songs and so forth.”

— Noam Chomsky

Art