Noam Chomsky Quotes

My parents have raised me and my three siblings to be aware of the privilege we have been afforded and the responsibility it brings.

I've been raised and taught to believe that privilege should lead to responsibility - in fact to greater responsibility.

Privilege is here, and with privilege goes responsibility.

I'm John the Fourth, so I think there's a lot of things in life that have been truly handed to me by the hard work and the pain of others.

He who allows oppression shares the crime.

Class structures are a luxury that we cannot afford.

Mitt Romney subscribes to the cynical logic that says the American dream belongs to some of us but not all of us.

People in positions of power and privilege have a duty to perform at a higher level. If not them, then who?

The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.

We know what works. What works are the very opportunities that advantaged families provide for their children.

The wealthy have a responsibility to invest in addressing inequality. This is especially true when constraints on others are so great.

Freedom breeds inequality.

I've led a very privileged life. You know, I've gotten to choose the work I do, and I hope every job I've had has been a little bit about trying to push the ball forward, particularly for folks who may not have the same opportunities that I've had.

I'm very lucky I went to a nice school and I live in a very lovely part of London.

Barriers today are largely class-based - income, networks, education. And those affect many white people as well.

There's not enough opportunity, and I feel like you can't control where you're born or where you're brought up.

A girl born in Drumchapel in Glasgow has just as much right to good health and the opportunities provided by a good education as a Surrey stockbroker's son.

I don't think equality is intrinsically valuable, meaning in and of itself. I'm not against inequality... if Bill Gates gets another hundred million dollars, it's no skin off my nose.

Equality of opportunity is meaningless for those who do not have the capabilities to take advantage of it.

If you happened to be born on third base, you didn't rub it in the face of the guy who wasn't even born in the stadium. Self-interest was generally checked at the door with your coat and hat.

I can't look in the mirror and see people dying on the street that should have the same opportunities that I've had. And say 'You know what? I can live with myself.' Because I can't if I just watch.

If you know what's going on and know how society can be improved and happiness advanced, you tend to focus on how to get things done that will help health, safety, opportunity, justice, accountability of powerful institutions to the people they are supposed to serve.

Outside of the family, education is the greatest determinant of social mobility.

Class still matters in Britain today.

The most important thing my grandfather taught me was that the most noble way to use your skills, intellect and energy is to defend the marginalized against those with the greatest power - and that the resulting animosity from those in power is a badge of honor.