--- title: "7 Abstract Quotes By Noam Chomsky" description: "7 Abstract quotes by Noam Chomsky. Plus more from Noam Chomsky and more Abstract sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_nothing-in-these-abstract-economic-model_335257.jpg" --- > [Nothing in these abstract economic models actually works in the real world. It doesn't matter how many footnotes they put in, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/nothing-in-these-abstract-economic-models-actually-works-in-the-real/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_nothing-in-these-abstract-economic-model_335257.jpg) > [I have written occasionally on links between my scientific work and political thinking, but not much, because the links seem to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-have-written-occasionally-on-links-between-my-scientific-work-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_i-have-written-occasionally-on-links-bet_1440839.jpg) > [You can imagine a different world in which a number of species developed with different genetically determined linguistic systems. It hasn't happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/you-can-imagine-a-different-world-in-which-a-number-of-species/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_you-can-imagine-a-different-world-in-whi_2007452.jpg) > [As far as Marx's analysis of capitalism, there's a lot of very useful ideas in it, but he's developing an abstract model…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/as-far-as-marx-s-analysis-of-capitalism-there-s-a-lot-of-very-useful/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/noam-chomsky-42_19th-century_as-far-as-marx-s-analysis-of-capitalism_2216165.jpg) > [The US and Israel have demanded further that Palestinians not only recognize Israel's rights as a state in the international system, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-us-and-israel-have-demanded-further-that-palestinians-not-only/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/061/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_the-us-and-israel-have-demanded-further_2303997.jpg) > [I think the most important work that is going on has to do with the search for very general and abstract features…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-think-the-most-important-work-that-is-going-on-has-to-do-with-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_i-think-the-most-important-work-that-is_2377196.jpg) > [Radical activists can't ignore the fact that we live in this world, like it or not, and have to make difficult decisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/radical-activists-can-t-ignore-the-fact-that-we-live-in-this-world/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f4/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_radical-activists-can-t-ignore-the-fact_2557493.jpg) ## Other authors on Abstract - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-william-james-95592.jpg) William James 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/william-james/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-robert-motherwell-80075.jpg) Robert Motherwell 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/robert-motherwell/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alfred-north-whitehead-11331.jpg) Alfred North Whitehead 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/alfred-north-whitehead/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alex-pettyfer-10853.jpg) Ada Lovelace 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/ada-lovelace/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-willem-de-kooning-95128.jpg) Willem de Kooning 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/willem-de-kooning/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-roy-lichtenstein-81519.jpg) Roy Lichtenstein 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/roy-lichtenstein/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-oscar-wilde-72846.jpg) Oscar Wilde 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/oscar-wilde/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-gerhard-richter-38308.jpg) Gerhard Richter 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/gerhard-richter/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-lynch-27713.jpg) David Lynch 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/david-lynch/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/barack-obama/) ## More by Noam Chomsky > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-questions-as-to-whether-it-should-even-exist-who-should/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/governments-regard-their-own-citizens-as-their-main-enemy-and-they/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/this-is-class-war-on-an-international-scale-and-power-is-in-the-hands/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's plenty to criticize about the mass media, but they are the source of regular information about a wide range of topics. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/noam-chomsky/#itemlist", "name": "7 Abstract Quotes By Noam Chomsky", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing in these abstract economic models actually works in the real world. 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It hasn't happened in evolution. What has happened is that one species has developed, and the genetic structure of this species happens to involve a variety of intricate abstract principles of linguistic organization that, therefore, necessarily constrain every language, and, in fact, create the basis for learning language as a way of organizing experience rather than constituting something learned from experience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/you-can-imagine-a-different-world-in-which-a-number-of-species/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_you-can-imagine-a-different-world-in-whi_2007452.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_you-can-imagine-a-different-world-in-whi_2007452.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_you-can-imagine-a-different-world-in-whi_2007452.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can imagine a different world in which a number of species developed with different genetically…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As far as Marx's analysis of capitalism, there's a lot of very useful ideas in it, but he's developing an abstract model of 19th century capitalism. It's abstract and it's changed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/as-far-as-marx-s-analysis-of-capitalism-there-s-a-lot-of-very-useful/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/noam-chomsky-42_19th-century_as-far-as-marx-s-analysis-of-capitalism_2216165.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/noam-chomsky-42_19th-century_as-far-as-marx-s-analysis-of-capitalism_2216165.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/noam-chomsky-42_19th-century_as-far-as-marx-s-analysis-of-capitalism_2216165.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As far as Marx's analysis of capitalism, there's a lot of very useful ideas in it, but he's developing an…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The US and Israel have demanded further that Palestinians not only recognize Israel's rights as a state in the international system, but that they also recognize Israel's abstract right to exist, a concept that has no place in international law or diplomacy, and a right claimed by no one. In effect, the US and Israel are demanding that Palestinians . . . formally accept the legitimacy of their expulsion from their own land. They cannot be expected to accept that, just as Mexico does not grant the US the right to exist on half of Mexico's territory, gained by conquest.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-us-and-israel-have-demanded-further-that-palestinians-not-only/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/061/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_the-us-and-israel-have-demanded-further_2303997.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/061/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_the-us-and-israel-have-demanded-further_2303997.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/061/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_the-us-and-israel-have-demanded-further_2303997.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The US and Israel have demanded further that Palestinians not only recognize Israel's rights as a state in…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the most important work that is going on has to do with the search for very general and abstract features of what is sometimes called universal grammar: general properties of language that reflect a kind of biological necessity rather than logical necessity; that is, properties of language that are not logically necessary for such a system but which are essential invariant properties of human language and are known without learning. We know these properties but we don't learn them. We simply use our knowledge of these properties as the basis for learning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-think-the-most-important-work-that-is-going-on-has-to-do-with-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_i-think-the-most-important-work-that-is_2377196.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_i-think-the-most-important-work-that-is_2377196.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_i-think-the-most-important-work-that-is_2377196.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think the most important work that is going on has to do with the search for very general and abstract…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Radical activists can't ignore the fact that we live in this world, like it or not, and have to make difficult decisions about which paths are the best - or sometimes, the least harmful. There are no abstract formulas. Have to think through each case on its own.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/radical-activists-can-t-ignore-the-fact-that-we-live-in-this-world/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f4/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_radical-activists-can-t-ignore-the-fact_2557493.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f4/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_radical-activists-can-t-ignore-the-fact_2557493.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f4/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_radical-activists-can-t-ignore-the-fact_2557493.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Radical activists can't ignore the fact that we live in this world, like it or not, and have to make…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/noam-chomsky/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/noam-chomsky/", "name": "Abstract Quotes by Noam Chomsky", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/noam-chomsky/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cf/noam-chomsky-42_abstract_nothing-in-these-abstract-economic-model_335257.jpg" }, "description": "7 Abstract quotes by Noam Chomsky. 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