QuoteProject
States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.
Noam Chomsky
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes that moral responsibility lies with individuals rather than governments or institutions.

Noam Chomsky's quote underscores the idea that while states and institutions hold power, it is ultimately individuals who possess the capacity for moral judgment. This suggests that it is the responsibility of people to impose ethical standards on these powerful entities, rather than blindly following their actions. It calls for accountability and reminds us that significant change begins with individual moral agency.

Themes

MoralityResponsibilityIndividualsPowerEthics

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be referenced in a discussion about social justice and individual accountability.

More from Noam Chomsky

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 '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

This my goodness does to endow the souls of the just more fully with spiritual riches when for my love they are stripped of material goods because they have renounced the world and all its pleasures and even their own will. These are the ones who fatten their souls, enlarging them in the abyss of my charity. Then I become their spiritual provider. The Holy Spirit becomes their servant.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
When white supremacy becomes institutional, it begins to harm the very people who are not simply outside of it because of their race, it begins to harm the folk who look like the folk who want to be in charge. Martin Luther King, Jr., understood this, Malcolm X understood this, James Baldwin really understood this.
Michael Eric DysonRead
People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
Denis DiderotRead
Begin with dhyana, with meditation, and end in samadhi, in ecstasy, and you will know what God is. It is not a hypothesis, it is an experience. You have to LIVE it - that is the only way to know it.
RajneeshRead
No man is such a conqueror, as the one that has defeated himself.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Death is staring too long into the burning sun and the relief of entering a cool, dark room.
Elisabeth Kubler-RossRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.