Chomsky, Noam

"The task is not to see what has never been seen before, but to think what has never been thought about that which everybody sees."

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

"The responsibility of intellectuals is much more serious than the average person might think."

"Language is not just words; it's a system that reveals how we think about the world."

"The general population doesn't know what's happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know."

"Humans are apparently unique in their ability to learn useless information."

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence that it is not absurdly wrong."

"You're free to do what we want as long as what we want is what you do."

"Education is a system of imposed ignorance."

"The most effective way to instill fear is through the system of obedience and conformity."

"Manufacturing consent is necessary in a democratic society."

"Curiosity is the most human of all traits."

"Change comes through action and organization."

"War is a mass murder and those who go along with it are committing a crime."

"The more you own, the more it owns you."

"Children are natural philosophers."

"We accept the reality we are presented with."

"If you're not willing to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary."

"Art and science are both acts of creation."

"The natural world is the ultimate teacher."

"Conformity is the enemy of progress."

"Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship."

"We are all complicit in systems we don't understand."

"Questions are more important than answers."

"The working class is trapped by economic necessity."

"Language shapes our reality in fundamental ways."

"Hope is a necessary illusion, but you must work as though it's real."

"Institutional power depends on obedience."

"Technology amplifies both human capability and human cruelty."

"The margins of society often see most clearly."