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Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, born on December 7, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the most influential intellectuals of the modern era. A linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist, Chomsky is often regarded as the “father of modern linguistics.” His groundbreaking work in the field of linguistics, particularly the theory of generative grammar, revolutionized our understanding of language and cognition. Chomsky’s contributions extend far beyond linguistics; he is also a prominent critic of U.S. foreign policy, corporate power, and media manipulation, with works like “Manufacturing Consent” co-authored with Edward S. Herman, highlighting the ways in which media serves the interests of powerful elites.

Chomsky’s intellectual rigor and commitment to social justice have made him a leading voice in the critique of neoliberalism and  imperialism,    and  he   has  authored  over  100  books,  

essays, and articles on topics ranging from anarchism to climate change. His lectures and writings have inspired generations of activists and thinkers to question authority, seek truth, and strive for a more equitable world. Despite his advanced age, Chomsky remains an active and influential figure, continuing to challenge conventional wisdom and inspire critical thought across disciplines. His legacy as a scholar and activist is unparalleled, cementing his place as one of the most important public intellectuals of our time.  Some of his famous quotations are as following:-

  • “The responsibility of intellectuals is to speak the truth and expose lies.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants, and aliens, the more you control all the people.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Education is a system of imposed ignorance.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Power and ideology are interwoven. If you want to achieve political and social goals, you must try to influence the way people think.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “We shouldn’t be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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
  • “The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “If you go to one demonstration and then go home, that’s something, but people in power can live with that. What they can’t live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organizations that keep doing things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time and doing it better the next time.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The real test of character is how you treat the people you don’t have to be nice to.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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
  • “You cannot control your own population by force, but it can be distracted by consumption.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The public is not supposed to think. It’s not supposed to pay attention to what’s happening.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The more privilege you have, the more opportunity you have. The more opportunity you have, the more responsibility you have.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The best defense against democracy is to distract people.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system of ideological control—’indoctrination,’ we might say—exercised through the mass media.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Governments will use whatever technology is available to combat their primary enemy—their own population.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “We can and must write in a language which sows among the masses hate, revulsion, and scorn toward those who disagree with us.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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
  • “The principle that human rights are universal can be upheld only by realizing that they are universal and applying them universally, across the board.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The moral and intellectual outlook of the people can be manipulated and controlled.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “If you want to achieve political and social goals, you must try to influence the way people think.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “In many respects, the state has been transformed into a flexible instrument of corporate power.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “It’s not radical Islam that worries the US—it’s independence.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The war against working people should be understood to be a real war.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “What people call ‘sanctions’ are in fact war measures.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “How it is we have so much information, but know so little?” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The threat of China is not military, it is economic.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Those who fear knowledge are not the people who would become strong, but the people who would become weak.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Those who do not wish to be a part of the game are its victims.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s a really easy way: stop participating in it.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “It’s not just about controlling the working classes, it’s about keeping them ignorant.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “There are very good reasons why the propaganda system works so well. One is that it is based on a great amount of accurate information that is simply withheld. That creates an illusion of information overload while, in fact, people are not getting the information they need to make informed decisions.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “We live in a world of high crimes and misdemeanors, committed by powerful states and corporations, and what the press does is offer a sanitised version of reality.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “You cannot control your own population by force, but it can be distracted by consumption.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The process of manufacturing consent is one of the most important of all, because it is the mechanism by which democracy is subverted.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The best defense against democracy is to distract people.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The main problem of the modern world is the lack of ability to think critically.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “You cannot control your own population by force, but it can be distracted by consumption.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “We shouldn’t be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The more privilege you have, the more opportunity you have. The more opportunity you have, the more responsibility you have.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “It’s not radical Islam that worries the US—it’s independence.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Education is a system of imposed ignorance.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The real test of character is how you treat the people you don’t have to be nice to.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Power and ideology are interwoven. If you want to achieve political and social goals, you must try to influence the way people think.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Governments will use whatever technology is available to combat their primary enemy—their own population.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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
  • “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.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “We live in a world of high crimes and misdemeanors, committed by powerful states and corporations, and what the press does is offer a sanitised version of reality.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The process of manufacturing consent is one of the most important of all, because it is the mechanism by which democracy is subverted.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “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
  • “For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “Those who fear knowledge are not the people who would become strong, but the people who would become weak.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The threat of China is not military, it is economic.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope.” — Noam Chomsky
  • “How it is we have so much information, but know so little?” — Noam Chomsky
  • “The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants, and aliens, the more you control all the people.” — Noam Chomsky

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