--- title: "6 Geopolitical Quotes By Noam Chomsky" description: "6 Geopolitical quotes by Noam Chomsky. Plus more from Noam Chomsky and more Geopolitical sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/988/noam-chomsky-42_analysis_the-prophets-were-what-we-would-call-dis_385822.jpg" --- > [The "prophets" were what we would call dissident intellectuals. They provided critical geopolitical analysis, condemned the crimes of the powerful, called for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-prophets-were-what-we-would-call-dissident-intellectuals-they/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/988/noam-chomsky-42_analysis_the-prophets-were-what-we-would-call-dis_385822.jpg) > [There is a principle of human affairs that goes back millennia, which is that you don't look in the mirror. You can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-is-a-principle-of-human-affairs-that-goes-back-millennia-which/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/131/noam-chomsky-42_affair_there-is-a-principle-of-human-affairs-th_410113.jpg) > [Prophet just means intellectual. They were people giving geopolitical analysis, moral lessons, that sort of thing. We call them intellectuals today. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-were-people-giving-geopolitical/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/noam-chomsky-42_ahab_prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-wer_411804.jpg) > [ Okay, NATO expanded to East Berlin and East Germany. Under \[Bill\] Clinton NATO expanded further, to the former Russian satellites. In 2008… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/okay-nato-expanded-to-east-berlin-and-east-germany-under-bill-clinton/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/noam-chomsky-42_berlin_okay-nato-expanded-to-east-berlin-and-ea_673019.jpg) > [Go back to the Bible, the Old Testament. I mean there were people who we would call intelectuals, there, they were called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/go-back-to-the-bible-the-old-testament-i-mean-there-were-people-who/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0d/noam-chomsky-42_analysis_go-back-to-the-bible-the-old-testament-i_772042.jpg) > [Around 2008 and again in 2013 NATO officially offered the Ukraine the opportunity to join NATO. That's something no Russian government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/around-2008-and-again-in-2013-nato-officially-offered-the-ukraine-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/noam-chomsky-42_accepting_around-2008-and-again-in-2013-nato-offic_2164668.jpg) ## Other authors on Geopolitical - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-a-falk-78381.jpg) Richard A. Falk 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geopolitical/richard-a-falk/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-vladimir-putin-94037.jpg) Vladimir Putin 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geopolitical/vladimir-putin/) ## 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/geopolitical/noam-chomsky/#itemlist", "name": "6 Geopolitical Quotes By Noam Chomsky", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The \"prophets\" were what we would call dissident intellectuals. They provided critical geopolitical analysis, condemned the crimes of the powerful, called for justice and mercy for those who needed help, etc. I wouldn't personally endorse everything they said, any more than I would for critics of power and its crimes today. 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They were people giving geopolitical analysis, moral lessons, that sort of thing. We call them intellectuals today. There were the people we honor as prophets, there were the people we condemn as false prophets. But if you look at the biblical record, at the time, it was the other way around. The flatterers of the Court of King Ahab were the ones who were honored. The ones we call prophets were driven into the desert and imprisoned.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-were-people-giving-geopolitical/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/noam-chomsky-42_ahab_prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-wer_411804.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/noam-chomsky-42_ahab_prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-wer_411804.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/noam-chomsky-42_ahab_prophet-just-means-intellectual-they-wer_411804.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Prophet just means intellectual. 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I mean, Ukraine is the geopolitical heartland of Russian concern, quite aside from historical connections, population and so on.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noam Chomsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/okay-nato-expanded-to-east-berlin-and-east-germany-under-bill-clinton/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/noam-chomsky-42_berlin_okay-nato-expanded-to-east-berlin-and-ea_673019.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/noam-chomsky-42_berlin_okay-nato-expanded-to-east-berlin-and-ea_673019.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a8/noam-chomsky-42_berlin_okay-nato-expanded-to-east-berlin-and-ea_673019.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Okay, NATO expanded to East Berlin and East Germany. Under [Bill] Clinton NATO expanded further, to the…” — Noam Chomsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Go back to the Bible, the Old Testament. I mean there were people who we would call intelectuals, there, they were called prophets, but they were basically intelectuals: they were people who were doing critical, geopolitical analysis, talking about the decisions of the king were going to lead to destruction; condemning inmorality, calling for justice for widows and orphans. What we would call dissident intelectuals. Were they nicely treated? No, they were driven into the desert, they were imprisoned, they were denounced. 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