Noam Chomsky Quotes
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, political philosopher, and one of the most cited intellectuals alive. His Syntactic Structures and the theory of generative grammar transformed twentieth-century linguistics by arguing that the capacity for language is innate to the human mind, organized around a universal grammar shared across languages. The quotes below are attributed to Noam Chomsky, organized by topic.
Browse Noam Chomsky by topic
Noam Chomsky on Freedom
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“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.”
Noam Chomsky in interview by John Pilger on The Late Show BBC Television, November 25, 1992 . -
“[...] one must be cautious in assessing the political significance of the relative freedom from repression — at least for the privileged — in the United States. Exactly what does it mean, concretely?”
Language and Responsibility(1977) -
“Talk titled "Free Market Fantasies" at Harvard University , April 13, 1996 [27] .”
1995–1999
Noam Chomsky on Justice
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“"Tough love" is just the right phrase: love for the rich and privileged, tough for everyone else.”
1995–1999 | Powers and Prospects , 1996, p.137 -
“Lenin was a right-wing deviation of the socialist movement and he was so regarded...by the mainstream Marxists... Bolshevism was a right-wing deviation.”
1980s | Speech on “Lenin, Trotsky and Socialism and the Soviet Union”, (March 15, 1989) [1] -
“There's a good reason why nobody studies history. It just teaches you too much.”
2003 | KGNU benefit at the University of Colorado at Boulder , April 5, 2003 (context: João Goulart ) [71] -
“”Some Elementary Comments on The Rights of Freedom of Expression”, preface to Robert Faurisson Mémoire en défense (October 11, 1980)”
1980s -
“Talk titled "The Idea of Universality in Linguistics and Human Rights" at MIT, March 15, 2005 [84]”
2005
Noam Chomsky on Knowledge
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Attributed to Noam Chomsky:
“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”
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Attributed to Noam Chomsky:
“How is it we have so much information, but know so little?”
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“A Review of B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior , Language 35, no. 1 (January–March 1959)”
Suppose that we manage to construct grammars having the properties outlined above. We can then attempt to describe and study the achievement of the speaker, listener, and learner. The speaker and the listener, we must assume, have already acquired the capacities characterized abstractly by the grammar. The speaker’s task is to select a particular compatible set of optional rules. If we know, from -
“Syntactic investigation of a given language has as its goal the construction of a grammar that can be viewed as a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the language under analysis.”
Chap. 1 : Introduction -
“Chap. 1 : Introduction”
Syntactic investigation of a given language has as its goal the construction of a grammar that can be viewed as a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the language under analysis. -
“Chap. 1 : Introduction”
We can determine the adequacy of a linguistic theory by developing rigorously and precisely the form of grammar corresponding to the set of levels contained within this theory, and then investigating the possibility of constructing simple and revealing grammars of this form for natural languages. -
“Despite the undeniable interest and importance of semantic and statistical studies of language, they appear to have no direct relevance to the problem of determining or characterizing the set of grammatical utterances. I think that we are forced to conclude that grammar is autonomous and independent of meaning, and that probabilistic models give no particular insight into some of the basic problems of syntactic structure.”
Chap. 2 : The Independence of Grammar -
“Chap. 2 : The Independence of Grammar”
Despite the undeniable interest and importance of semantic and statistical studies of language, they appear to have no direct relevance to the problem of determining or characterizing the set of grammatical utterances. I think that we are forced to conclude that grammar is autonomous and independent of meaning, and that probabilistic models give no particular insight into some of the basic problem -
“Chap. 6 : On the Goals of Linguistic Theory”
The grammar of a language is a complex system with many and varied interconnections between its parts. In order to develop one part of grammar thoroughly, it is often useful, or even necessary, to have some picture of the character of a completed system. Once again, I think that the notion that syntactic theory must await the solution of problems of phonology and morphology is completely untenable -
“There are many facts about language and linguistic behavior that require explanation beyond the fact that such and such a string (which no one may ever have produced) is or is not a sentence. It is reasonable to expect grammars to provide explanations for some of these facts.”
Chap. 8 : The Explanatory Power of Linguistic Theory -
“We take for granted that the organism does not learn to grow arms or to reach puberty... When we turn to the mind and its products, the situation is not qualitatively different from what we find in the case of the body.”
Rules and Representations(1980) | p. 2-3 as cited in: Jerry Fodor (1983) Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology. p. 4.
Noam Chomsky on Life
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“[…] the evacuation of Phnom Penh , widely denounced at the time and since for its undoubted brutality, may actually have saved many lives.”
After the Cataclysm(1979) -
“Interview with C.J. Polychroniou, "Chomsky: US Is Prioritizing Its Jockeying With Russia, Not Ukrainians’ Lives" , Truthout.org , May 4, 2022”
2022
Noam Chomsky on Love
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“[The "liberal media"] love to be denounced from the right, and the right loves to denounce them, because that makes them look like courageous defenders of freedom and independence while, in fact, they are imposing all of the presuppositions of the propaganda system.”
1995–1999 | Interview by Ira Shorr, February 11, 1996 [25]
Noam Chomsky on Mind
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Attributed to Noam Chomsky:
“Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied.”
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“The deep structure that expresses the meaning is common to all languages, so it is claimed, being a simple reflection of the forms of thought.”
Cartesian Linguistics(1966) | "Deep and surface structure" -
“The central doctrine of Cartesian linguistics is that the general features of grammatical structure are common to all languages and reflect certain fundamental properties of the mind.”
Cartesian Linguistics(1966) | "Acquisition and use of language" -
“I think we can be reasonably confident that if the American population had the slightest idea of what is being done in their name, they would be utterly appalled.”
2001 | Interview by Svetlana Vukovic & Svetlana Lukic on Radio B92, Belgrade , Serbia, September 19, 2001 [52] . -
“I choose to live in what I think is the greatest country in the world, which is committing horrendous terrorist acts and should stop.”
2002 | Debate with Bill Bennett on CNN , May 30, 2002 [65] -
“I’m not an absolute pacifist. I think there are times when the use of military force is defensible […] Defending the Kurds against the ISIL attacks—yes, that’s legitimate.”
2016 | Noam Chomsky, Al Jazeera ‘UpFront’ interview with host Mehdi Hasan on ISIL, Turkey and Ukraine, (Jan 23, 2016) -
“Interview by Burton Levine in Shmate: A Journal of Progressive Jewish Thought (May 1988) [3] .”
1980s -
“Strikingly, no concern was voiced over the glaringly obvious fact that no official reason was ever offered for going to war — no reason, that is, that could not be instantly refuted by a literate teenager.”
1990–1994 | Z Magazine (May 1991) [8] . -
“From "US Approach to Ukraine and Russia Has 'Left the Domain of Rational Discourse'" Truthout (February 4, 2022)”
2022
Noam Chomsky on Nature
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“We can determine the adequacy of a linguistic theory by developing rigorously and precisely the form of grammar corresponding to the set of levels contained within this theory, and then investigating the possibility of constructing simple and revealing grammars of this form for natural languages.”
Chap. 1 : Introduction
Noam Chomsky on Politics
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“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.”
The Common Good -
“Chap. 8 : The Explanatory Power of Linguistic Theory”
There are many facts about language and linguistic behavior that require explanation beyond the fact that such and such a string (which no one may ever have produced) is or is not a sentence. It is reasonable to expect grammars to provide explanations for some of these facts. -
“In general, the rules of stylistic reordering are very different from the grammatical transformations, which are much more deeply embedded in the grammatical system.”
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax(1965) | Chap. 2 : Categories and Relations in Syntactic Theory -
“If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.”
1990–1994 | talk at St. Michael's College , Vermont, around 1990 [7] . -
“Remember, the U.S. is a powerful state, it's not like Libya. If Libya wants to carry out terrorist acts, they hire Carlos the Jackal or something. The United States hires terrorist states.”
2002 | Talk titled "Distorted Morality" at Harvard University , February 2002 [60] .
Noam Chomsky on Time
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“Annexing of the land in Crimea, I think, was a criminal act. But it has a history.”
2016 | Noam Chomsky, Al Jazeera ‘UpFront’ interview with host Mehdi Hasan on ISIL, Turkey and Ukraine, (Jan 23, 2016) -
“In "Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics" by Paul Street [99] , 2008.”
2007–09 -
“In these tumultuous times, Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance & Rebellion is important, because a functioning democracy requires active citizen participation in setting social policy.”
Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance & Rebellion(2020) -
“If we try to keep a sense of balance, the exposures of the past several months are analogous to the discovery that the directors of Murder, Inc. were also cheating on their income tax. Reprehensible, to be sure, but hardly the main point.”
1970s | " Watergate: A Skeptical View ," New York Review of Books (September 20, 1973).
Noam Chomsky on Truth
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“The responsibility of the writer as a moral agent is to try to bring the truth about matters of human significance to an audience that can do something about them .”
Powers and Prospects(1996) | p. 56. -
“Delivered at the First Annual Maryse Mikhail Lecture “No peace without justice; no justice without truth” The University of Toledo , March 4, 2001. [49]”
2001 -
“The picture of the world that's presented to the public has only the remotest relation to reality . The truth of the matter is buried under edifice after edifice of lies upon lies .”
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, (1991) -
“It's certainly true that the world is better off without Saddam Hussein, and also without the people who supported him through his worst atrocities, and are now telling us about them.”
25th Anniversary of Coalition for Peace Action, 2004