There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
The prescription for endless war poses a far greater danger to Americans than perceived enemies do, for reasons the terrorist organisations understand very well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Chomsky warns that the ongoing state of war poses a more significant threat to Americans than the enemies themselves.
In this quote, Noam Chomsky suggests that the continuous state of conflict, driven by perceptions of external threats, can lead to greater harm and instability within society. He argues that such perpetual warfare serves to distract and manipulate the public while undermining democratic values and creating a cycle of violence that ultimately endangers citizens more than the supposed terrorist threat itself.
Themes
WarDangerPerceptionTerrorismSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a political debate regarding military spending.
More from Noam Chomsky
All quotes βThe 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
Noam ChomskyRead
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
Noam ChomskyRead
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.
Noam ChomskyRead
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
Noam ChomskyRead
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.
Noam ChomskyRead
Similar quotes
Then Morgoth stretching out his long arm towards Dor-lomin cursed Hurin and Morwen and their offspring, saying: 'Behold! The shadow of my thought shall lie upon them wherever they go, and my hate shall pursue them to the ends of the world.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
There are people who so arrange their lives that they feed themselves only on side dishes.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
The multiplication of our kind borders on the obscene; the duty to love them, on the preposterous.
Emile M. CioranRead
I believe that the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know what I was walling in or walling out.
Robert FrostRead
Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all men are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all men and all countries β not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of mankind as civilized.
Albert EinsteinRead