There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
Humans have certain properties and characteristics which are intrinsic to them, just as every other organism does. That's human nature.
Interpretation
Human nature encompasses the inherent characteristics that define humanity, similar to the traits of other organisms.
In this quote, Noam Chomsky emphasizes that humans possess unique properties and characteristics that are fundamental to their existence. Just like every other living organism, these intrinsic qualities shape our behaviors, thoughts, and interactions, defining what it means to be human. Understanding human nature is crucial for comprehending ourselves and our place in the world.
In practice
In a discussion about our behavior patterns, I would quote Chomsky to emphasize the importance of understanding human nature.
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.
The essence of the miracle of forgiveness is that it brings peace to the previously anxious, restless, frustrated, perhaps tormented soul.
I started out thinking of America as highways and state lines. As I got to know it better, I began to think of it as rivers.
The story of each stone leads back to a mountain.
Men speak of dreaming as if it were a phenomenon of night and sleep. They should know better. All results achieved by us are self-promised, and all self-promises are made in dreams awake. Dreaming is the relief of labor,the wine that sustains us in act. We learn to love labor, not for itself, but for the opportunity it furnishes for dreaming, which is the great under-monotone of real life, unheard, unnoticed, because of its constancy. Living is dreaming. Only in the graves are there no dreams.
No mariner ever enters upon a more uncharted sea than does the average human being born in the 20th century. Our ancestors know their way from birth through eternity; we are puzzled about the day after tomorrow.
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