Noam Chomsky Quotes

I prize the conditions under which I have lived because they have permitted me to choose my opportunities, to inquire into such matters as interested me, and to publish what I believed to be true, uncontrolled by any central authority.

Liberty, as a counterweight to servile docility which receives everything without scrutiny ... will without question be the theme of this university.

Insofar as the universities are free and independent, they will also be "subversive," in the sense that dominant structures of power and their ideological support will be subjected to challenge and critique, a counterpart to attitudes that are fostered in the hard sciences wherever they are taken seriously.

Freedom of inquiry, freedom of discussion, and freedom of teaching - without these a university cannot exist.

Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.

It is very nearly impossible... to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.

Every man must have the right fearlessly to think independently and express his opinion about what he knows, what he has personally thought about and experienced, and not merely to express with slightly different variations the opinion which has been inculcated in him.

I'm happy to have my own opinion and air it when I think it's necessary.

If we would guide by the light of reason we must let our minds be bold.

I am not interested in telling you what to think. My job is to show you what I think. Period.

The real scientist is ready to bear privation and, if need be, starvation rather than let anyone dictate to him which direction his work must take.

We do not consider our principles as dogmas contained in books that are said to come from heaven. We derive our inspiration, not from heaven, or from an unseen world, but directly from life.

Brown’s core value of promoting the free and open exchange of ideas is bedrock to our capacity to fulfill our mission as a university. This value applies not only when ideas are agreeable and aligned with our own. Protecting the right to free expression and promoting open discourse is even more essential when ideas are divergent, abhorrent or even hurtful.

History shows that the more open the intellectual environment, the better minorities will do.

Don’t believe everything the professors tell you. Get your own information on your own terms.

I strongly believe that fundamental science cannot be driven by instructional, industrial, governmental or military pressures. This was the reason why I decided, as far as possible, not to accept money from the government.

The Enlightenment ideal, which all universities claim to endorse, is that everyone should think for themselves.

For me, being independent is about being able to express myself exactly how I want to, instead of maximising profits.

A university is supposed to be a place where all ideas are discussed.

University students should rightly be exposed to a plurality of viewpoints as part of their intellectual growth, rather attending the 'flock of sheep association of like-minded individuals.'

Creative work and critical thought, which produces new knowledge, can't be conditioned; indeed, conditioning prevents these things from ever happening.

No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead.

All of my friends are independent in thought, that's important.

None of you speaks for me. I speak for me. I am a judge. I am independent. I make up my own mind.

I have simply wished to assert the reasoned and independent feeling of my own individuality within a total knowledge of tradition.