--- title: "5 Adam Quotes By Noam Chomsky" description: "5 Adam quotes by Noam Chomsky. Plus more from Noam Chomsky and more Adam sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/noam-chomsky-42_adam_we-re-supposed-to-worship-adam-smith-but_395670.jpg" --- > [We're supposed to worship Adam Smith but you're not supposed to read him. That's too dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/we-re-supposed-to-worship-adam-smith-but-you-re-not-supposed-to-read/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/noam-chomsky-42_adam_we-re-supposed-to-worship-adam-smith-but_395670.jpg) > [... an essential feature of a decent society, and an almost defining feature of a democratic society, is relative equality of outcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society-and-an-almost-defining/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/noam-chomsky-42_adam_an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society_875707.jpg) > [Adam Smith is an egalitarian, he believed in equality of outcome, not opportunity. He is an enlightenment figure, pre-capitalist. He says, suppose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/adam-smith-is-an-egalitarian-he-believed-in-equality-of-outcome-not/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/noam-chomsky-42_adam_adam-smith-is-an-egalitarian-he-believed_1051815.jpg) > [Power is concentrated. The general policy is exactly the way that Adam Smith described it: it's designed for the benefit of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/power-is-concentrated-the-general-policy-is-exactly-the-way-that-adam/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/noam-chomsky-42_adam_power-is-concentrated-the-general-policy_1286902.jpg) > [Let's take Adam Smith, the patron-saint of capitalism, what did he think? He thought the main human instinct was sympathy. In fact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/let-s-take-adam-smith-the-patron-saint-of-capitalism-what-did-he/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/613/noam-chomsky-42_adam_let-s-take-adam-smith-the-patron-saint-o_1938528.jpg) ## Other authors on Adam ## 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/adam/noam-chomsky/#itemlist", "name": "5 Adam Quotes By Noam Chomsky", "numberOfItems": 5, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We're supposed to worship Adam Smith but you're not supposed to read him. 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Like Aristotle, [Adam] Smith understood that the common good will require substantial intervention to assure lasting prosperity of the poor by distribution of public revenues.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society-and-an-almost-defining/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/noam-chomsky-42_adam_an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society_875707.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/noam-chomsky-42_adam_an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society_875707.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/noam-chomsky-42_adam_an-essential-feature-of-a-decent-society_875707.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“... an essential feature of a decent society, and an almost defining feature of a democratic society, is…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Adam Smith is an egalitarian, he believed in equality of outcome, not opportunity. He is an enlightenment figure, pre-capitalist. He says, suppose in England, one landowner got most of the land and other people would have nothing to live on. He says it wouldn't matter much, because the rich land owner, by virtue of his sympathy for other people would distribute resources among them, so that by an invisible hand, we would end up with a pretty egalitarian society. That is his conception of human nature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/adam-smith-is-an-egalitarian-he-believed-in-equality-of-outcome-not/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/noam-chomsky-42_adam_adam-smith-is-an-egalitarian-he-believed_1051815.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/noam-chomsky-42_adam_adam-smith-is-an-egalitarian-he-believed_1051815.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/noam-chomsky-42_adam_adam-smith-is-an-egalitarian-he-believed_1051815.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Adam Smith is an egalitarian, he believed in equality of outcome, not opportunity. He is an enlightenment…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Power is concentrated. The general policy is exactly the way that Adam Smith described it: it's designed for the benefit of its principal architects, the powerful. It serves \"the vile maxim of the masters: all for ourselves and nothing for anyone else\". Those are the basic rules of the world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/power-is-concentrated-the-general-policy-is-exactly-the-way-that-adam/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/noam-chomsky-42_adam_power-is-concentrated-the-general-policy_1286902.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/noam-chomsky-42_adam_power-is-concentrated-the-general-policy_1286902.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/noam-chomsky-42_adam_power-is-concentrated-the-general-policy_1286902.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Power is concentrated. The general policy is exactly the way that Adam Smith described it: it's designed for…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let's take Adam Smith, the patron-saint of capitalism, what did he think? He thought the main human instinct was sympathy. In fact, take a look at the word \"invisible hand.\" Which, of course, you learned about, or you think you've learned about. Take a look at the actual way in which he used the phrase. 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