Quotes by Noam Chomsky

About Noam Chomsky:

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator, social justice activist, and anarcho-syndicalist advocate. Sometimes described as the "father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy. He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is currently Professor Emeritus, and has authored over 100 books. He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and was voted the "world's top public intellectual" in a 2005 poll.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Romania, which had the worst dictator in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu, he was a darling of the West. The United States and Britain loved him. He was supported until the last minute.

Noam Chomsky

For many of the world's conflicts, it is difficult even to conjure up a feasible settlement.

Noam Chomsky

It is a virtual reflex for governments to plead security concerns when they undertake any controversial action, often as a pretext for something else.

Noam Chomsky

In September 1993, President Clinton presided over a handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn - the climax of a 'day of awe,' as the press described it...

Noam Chomsky

To some degree it matters who's in office, but it matters more how much pressure they're under from the public.

Noam Chomsky

Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.

Noam Chomsky

The people who were honored in the Bible were the false prophets. It was the ones we call the prophets who were jailed and driven into the desert.

Noam Chomsky

Language is a weapon of politicians, but language is a weapon in much of human affairs.

Noam Chomsky

Anti-Americanism is a pure totalitarian concept. The very notion is idiotic.

Noam Chomsky

Egypt is the second-largest recipient over a long period of U.S. military and economic aid. Israel is first.

Noam Chomsky

I don't like the intellectual label.

Noam Chomsky

I don't see any possibility of Britain and the U.S. allowing a sovereign independent Iraq; that's almost inconceivable.

Noam Chomsky

If humans were totally unstructured creatures, they would be... a tool which can properly be shaped by outside forces.

Noam Chomsky

The elections are run by the same industries that sell toothpaste on television.

Noam Chomsky

Public opinion in Egypt is very antagonistic to the way the dictatorship, Mubarak dictatorship, interpreted relations with Israel. Very antagonistic.

Noam Chomsky

Civil disobedience is - it's no fun.

Noam Chomsky

If the United States loses the economic weapons of control, it is very much weakened.

Noam Chomsky

In the 1930s, unemployed working people could anticipate that their jobs would come back.

Noam Chomsky

In the late 1960s, the masses were supposed to be passive, not entering into the public arena and having their voices heard.

Noam Chomsky

The Internet has compromised the quality of debate.

Noam Chomsky

It's dangerous when people are willing to give up their privacy.

Noam Chomsky

Author Bio

  • NameNoam Chomsky
  • DescriptionAmerican linguist, philosopher
  • AliasesAvram Noam Chomsky; A. Noam Chomsky; Chomsky, Noam
  • BornDecember 7, 1928
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPhilosopher; Linguist; Opinion Journalist; Political Writer; Educationist; Media Critic
  • AwardsOrwell Award; Guggenheim Fellowship