Quote of Noam Chomsky - As soon as questions of will...

Biography - Noam Chomsky:

American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political activist and social critic.
Born: 1928
Period:
21st century
20th century
Place of birth: United States

Quote

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss.”
Noam Chomsky

Translation

(French, German)

Dès que se pose le problème de la volonté, de la décision, des raisons ou du choix de l'action, la science humaine n'est d'aucun secours.”
Noam Chomsky

Sobald Fragen über den Willen oder Entscheidungen oder Verstand oder Handlungsalternativen zu klären sind, ist die menschliche Wissenschaft verloren.”
Noam Chomsky

Quotes about will:

Pessimism comes from the temperament, optimism from the will.”
Émile-Auguste Chartier, known as Alain - Propos sur le bonheur

We have more strength than will; and it is often merely for an excuse we say things are impossible.”
François de La Rochefoucauld - Reflections, or Sentences and Moral Maxims

Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.”
William Shakespeare - The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

The will of man is his happiness.”
Friedrich Schiller

At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.”
Benjamin Franklin

will

The world is independent of my will.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein - Tractatus Logico-philosophicus

All about will...

Quotes about decision:

I have decided to be happy because it's good for my health.”
Voltaire - Letter to the Abbé Trublet

The greatness of man lies in his decision to be stronger than his condition.”
Albert Camus - Chroniques

decision

The present is not a potential past; it is the moment of choice and action.”
Simone de Beauvoir

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.”
Gabrielle Chasnel, dîte Coco Chanel

Certainly thinking is pleasant, but the pleasure of thinking must be subordinated to the art of making decisions.”
Émile-Auguste Chartier, known as Alain - Propos sur le bonheur

All about decision...

Quotes about action:

I have laboured carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate, but to understand human actions.”
Baruch Spinoza - Tractatus politicus

The present is not a potential past; it is the moment of choice and action.”
Simone de Beauvoir

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.”
John Locke - An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.”
Hannah Arendt

Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.”
Henri Bergson

To act freely is to retake possession of oneself; it is to place oneself back in pure duration.”
Henri Bergson - Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness

All about action...

Noam Chomsky also said...

Citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control. ”
Noam Chomsky

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

freedom of expression

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.”
Noam Chomsky

opinion

Real education is about getting people involved in thinking for themselves.”
Noam Chomsky

education

Propaganda is to democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.”
Noam Chomsky

Democracy

The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at certain stages of history, perpetuate and produce such a deficit, and even threaten human survival.”
Noam Chomsky

More quotes...

info A quotation is a statement taken out of its context. Therefore, it is necessary to place any quotation within its author's work and its historical, geographical or philosophical context in order to fully understand its meaning. | The quotations stated on this site express their authors' opinion and do not reflect that of Buboquote.com

info Image attribution: title, author, license and source of the original file on Wikipedia. Modifications: changes have been made from the original file (cropping, resizing, renaming and color change).

Subscribe to the quote of the day email

Subscribe to the Quote of the Day to receive a quote every day in your inbox. It is spam-free and you can unsubscribe at any time.