1,450 Quotes by Noam Chomsky

I choose to live in what I think is the greatest country in the world, which is committing horrendous terrorist acts and should stop.

Jean Kirkpatrick [is] the chief sadist-in-residence of the Reagan Administration

The general public are not even aware of major decisions that will determine their fate, hence are in no position to influence them

In the early 50s in the US, there was what was called McCarthyism and the only reason it succeeded was that there was no resistance to it. When they tried the same thing in the 60s it instantly collapsed because people simply laughed at it so they couldn't do it. Even a dictatorship can't do everything it wants. It's got to have some degree of popular support.

Popular struggles to bring about a freer and more just society have been resisted by violence and repression, and massive efforts to control opinion and attitudes. Over time, however, they have met with considerable success, even though there is a long way to go, and there is often regression.

States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.

Suppose that we believe what we are taught. . . . destroying the environment and militarizing outer space are rational policies . . . of institutional lunacy.

When secular figures are turned into divinities, they way they are in Peian Yang or Stanford University - that I don't like.

What happened in the missile crisis in October 1962 has been prettified to make it look as if acts of courage and thoughtfulness abounded. The truth is that the whole episode was almost insane.