When I look at public opinion, I'm not far out of the mainstream. I'm in it, in many respects. In some respects, public opinion goes beyond anything I've ever said. Noam Chomsky More Quotes by Noam Chomsky More Quotes From Noam Chomsky 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. Noam Chomsky navypiratesea If you want to control a population... give them a God to worship. Noam Chomsky populationwantgiving A basic principle of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized. Noam Chomsky costriskprinciples Moral cowardice and intellectual corruption are the natural concomitants of unchallenged privilege. Noam Chomsky privilegemoralintellectual You cannot control your own population by force, but it can be distracted by consumption. Noam Chomsky consumptionpopulationforce What's the point of being better than someone else? Noam Chomsky The US is a country [in which] eighty percent of the population thinks the Bible was written by god. About half think every word is literally true. So it's had to appeal to that - and to the nativist population, the people that are frightened, have always been... It's a very frightened country and that's increasing now with the recognition that the white population is going to be a minority pretty soon, "they've taken our country from us." Noam Chomsky takencountrythinking Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative inquiry? Noam Chomsky inquirytestscreative If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged. Noam Chomsky presidentlawwar It takes one minute to tell a lie, and an hour to refute it. Noam Chomsky hoursminuteslying The United States happens to be the only state in the world that has been condemned by the World Court for international terrorism. Noam Chomsky terrorismunited-statesworld There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do. Noam Chomsky mirrorsmonsterspeople 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. Noam Chomsky takenwisdomattitude Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech. Noam Chomsky freedom-of-speechfavorsviews Ontological questions are generally beside the point, hardly more than a form of harassment. Noam Chomsky harassmentform 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. Noam Chomsky politicalcommunitythinking The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on -- because they're dysfunctional to the institutions. Noam Chomsky weedlearningeducational If you go to one demonstration and then go home, that's something, but the people in power can live with that. What they can't live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organisations that keep doing things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time and doing it better the next time. Noam Chomsky religioushomepeople 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. Noam Chomsky white-privilegeracismkids It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies. Noam Chomsky truthleadershiplying
