Berlin Quote by Noam Chomsky
![“Isaiah Berlin described the intellectuals of [Mikhail] Bakunin's "Red bureaucracy" as a "secular priesthood.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f94/noam-chomsky-42_berlin_isaiah-berlin-described-the-intellectual_1617519.jpg)
“Isaiah Berlin described the intellectuals of [Mikhail] Bakunin's "Red bureaucracy" as a "secular priesthood.”
About This Quote
Source Book: "The Power of the Intellectuals", 1995
Intellectuals can become dogmatic, resembling a religious hierarchy.
In simple terms: Critique of rigid academic elites.
Key Takeaway
Question authority.
Themes
intellectualism
authority
dogma
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
philosophical
political
When to use this quote
- university curricula
- policy advising
- public discourse
Key Concepts
secularism
power structures
critical theory
Questions to Reflect On
- How can intellectuals stay humble?
- What safeguards prevent elitism?
A Different Perspective
May overgeneralize diverse scholars.
![“[Mikhail Bakunin] expectations were generally confirmed, including his prediction that some would seek to gain state power on the backs of popular revolution, then constructing a "Red bureaucracy" that would be one of the worst tyrannies in history, while others would recognize that power lies…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4d9/noam-chomsky-42_becoming_mikhail-bakunin-expectations-were-genera_1290379.jpg)
![“That intellectuals, including academics, would become a "new class" of technocrats, claiming the name of science while cooperating with the powerful, was predicted by [Mikhail] Bakunin in the early days of the formation of the modern intelligentsia in the 19th century.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/957/noam-chomsky-42_19th-century_that-intellectuals-including-academics-w_566786.jpg)
![“[Isaiah] Berlin's observation is accurate enough, and applies at home as well, and even more harshly for the reasons already mentioned: the apparatchiks and commissars could at least plead fear in extenuation.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/af5/noam-chomsky-42_accurate_isaiah-berlin-s-observation-is-accurate_402358.jpg)
![“I wrote an article about the marine landing [in Haiti] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two months later and I assumed by then, "of course, everybody knows." Nobody knew. There was a news report in the Wall Street Journal, in the petroleum journals, and…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dc5/noam-chomsky-42_articles_i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-land_13341.jpg)
