1,450 Quotes by Noam Chomsky

It is not that I am not a fan of American exceptionalism. That is like saying I am not a fan of the moon being made out of green cheese-it does not exist. Powerful states have quite typically considered themselves to be exceptionally magnificent, and the United States is no exception to that. The basis for it is not very substantial to put it politely.

A principle familiar to propagandists is that the doctrine to be instilled in the target audience should not be articulated: that would only expose them to reflection, inquiry, and, very likely, ridicule. The proper procedure is to drill them home by constantly presupposing them, so that they become the very condition for discourse.

Control is the source of strategic power.

Citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control, and to lay the basis for meaningful democracy.

When you look at a corporation, just like when you look at a slave owner, you want to distinguish between the institution and the individual. So slavery, for example, or other forms of tyranny, are inherently monstrous. The individuals participating in them may be the nicest guys you can imagine.

The 1950s and 1960s had been a period of enormous growth, the highest in American history, maybe in economic history.

Now financial liberalization is just a catastrophe waiting to happen, and there are very well understood reasons for that.

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

There's never been anything like the so-called Vietnam Syndrome: it's mostly a fabrication.