If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion.

Quote by Noam Chomsky

Topics: Noam Chomsky Quotes

Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.

Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.

The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system...

The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system...

Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something...

Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something...

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens,...

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens,...

Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on...

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise,...

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise,...

The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at...

The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at...

Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.

Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.

The people who were honored in the Bible were the false prophets. It was the...

The people who were honored in the Bible were the false prophets. It was the...

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

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

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

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant...

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant...

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe...

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe...

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

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

To some degree it matters who's in office, but it matters more how much pressure...

To some degree it matters who's in office, but it matters more how much pressure...

The intellectual tradition is one of servility to power, and if I didn't betray it...

The intellectual tradition is one of servility to power, and if I didn't betray it...

You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for...

You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for...

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just...

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just...

Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the...

Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the...

If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.

If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.