Dr. Thomas Sowell is an American economist and social theorist who is currently a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is known for his controversial views on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. He is the author of over 20 books and has edited or contributed to others. Powerful Thomas Sowell quotes will enrich your life by making your life as fulfilling, meaningful, and filled with different views as possible.
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Most Famous Thomas Sowell Quotes
The first lesson of economics is scarcity there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. Thomas Sowell
It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. Thomas Sowell
The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best. Thomas Sowell
The first lesson of economics is scarcity there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. Thomas Sowell
There are few things more dishonorable than misleading the young. Thomas Sowell
If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly. Thomas Sowell
It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. Thomas Sowell
Sometimes it seems as if there are more solutions than problems. On closer scrutiny, it turns out that many of today’s problems are a result of yesterday’s solutions. Thomas Sowell
There are only two ways of telling the complete truth anonymously and posthumously. Thomas Sowell
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. Thomas Sowell
Balanced budget requirements seem more likely to produce accounting ingenuity than genuinely balanced budgets. Thomas Sowell
The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling. Thomas Sowell
Sometimes it seems as if there are more solutions than problems. On closer scrutiny, it turns out that many of today’s problems are a result of yesterday’s solutions. Thomas Sowell
If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today. Thomas Sowell
Capitalism knows only one color that color is green all else is necessarily subservient to it, hence, race, gender and ethnicity cannot be considered within it. Thomas Sowell
People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. Thomas Sowell
All of us should be on guard against beliefs that flatter ourselves. At the very least, we should check such beliefs against facts. Thomas Sowell
A moral monopoly is the antithesis of a marketplace of ideas. Thomas Sowell
The word racism is like ketchup. It can be put on practically anything and demanding evidence makes you a racist. Thomas Sowell
If you want to get each individual’s honest opinion, you don’t want that opinion to be influenced by others who are present, much less allow a group to coordinate what they are going to say. Thomas Sowell
The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best. Thomas Sowell
The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings. Thomas Sowell
Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric. Thomas Sowell
People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do. Thomas Sowell
The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite. Thomas Sowell
A shortage is a sign that somebody is keeping the price artificially lower than it would be if supply and demand were allowed to operate freely. Thomas Sowell
If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win. Thomas Sowell
If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today. Thomas Sowell
It is a way to take people’s wealth from them without having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the most universal tax of all. Thomas Sowell
The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling. Thomas Sowell
Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric. Thomas Sowell
Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late. Thomas Sowell
Facts do not speak for themselves. They speak for or against competing theories. Facts divorced from theories or visions are mere isolated curiosities.Thomas Sowell
Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. Thomas Sowell
What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long. Thomas Sowell
Although the big word on the left is compassion, the big agenda on the left is dependency. Thomas Sowell
Those who cry out that the government should do something never even ask for data on what has actually happened when the government did something, compared to what actually happened when the government did nothing. Thomas Sowell
It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it. Thomas Sowell
Life in general has never been even close to fair, so the pretense that the government can make it fair is a valuable and inexhaustible asset to politicians who want to expand government. Thomas Sowell
What multiculturalism boils down to is that you can praise any culture in the world except Western culture and you cannot blame any culture in the world except Western culture. Thomas Sowell
Would you bet your paycheck on a weather forecast for tomorrow? If not, then why should this country bet billions on global warming predictions that have even less foundation? Thomas Sowell
What multiculturalism boils down to is that you can praise any culture in the world except Western culture and you cannot blame any culture in the world except Western culture. Thomas Sowell
Stopping illegal immigration would mean that wages would have to rise to a level where Americans would want the jobs currently taken by illegal aliens. Thomas Sowell
Mystical references to society and its programs to help may warm the hearts of the gullible but what it really means is putting more power in the hands of bureaucrats. Thomas Sowell
The people made worse off by slavery were those who were enslaved. Their descendants would have been worse off today if born in Africa instead of America. Put differently, the terrible fate of their ancestors benefitted them. Thomas Sowell
As for gun control advocates, I have no hope whatever that any facts whatever will make the slightest dent in their thinking or lack of thinking. Thomas Sowell
Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good. Thomas Sowell
The word racism is like ketchup. It can be put on practically anything and demanding evidence makes you a racist. Thomas Sowell
Even if the government spends itself into bankruptcy and the economy still does not recover, Keynesians can always say that it would have worked if only the government had spent more. Thomas Sowell
The biggest and most deadly tax rate on the poor comes from a loss of various welfare state benefits food stamps, housing subsidies and the like if their income goes up. Thomas Sowell
Too much of what is called education is little more than an expensive isolation from reality. Thomas Sowell
Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good. Thomas Sowell
The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites. Thomas Sowell
If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly. Thomas Sowell
Without a moral framework, there is nothing left but immediate self indulgence by some and the path of least resistance by others. Neither can sustain a free society. Thomas Sowell
In various countries and times, leaders of groups that lagged behind, economically and educationally, have taught their followers to blame all their problems on other people and to hate those other people. Thomas Sowell
Both free speech rights and property rights belong legally to individuals, but their real function is social, to benefit vast numbers of people who do not themselves exercise these rights. Thomas Sowell
If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism. Thomas Sowell
Both free speech rights and property rights belong legally to individuals, but their real function is social, to benefit vast numbers of people who do not themselves exercise these rights. Thomas Sowell
Too much of what is called education is little more than an expensive isolation from reality. Thomas Sowell
The more people who are dependent on government handouts, the more votes the left can depend on for an ever-expanding welfare state. Thomas Sowell
Education is not merely neglected in many of our schools today, but is replaced to a great extent by ideological indoctrination. Thomas Sowell
Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention to facts but dogmatism will not be corrected by those who are wedded to a vision. Thomas Sowell
The time is long overdue to stop looking for progress through racial or ethnic leaders. Such leaders have too many incentives to promote polarizing attitudes and actions that are counterproductive for minorities and disastrous for the country. Thomas Sowell
Few professors would dare to publish research or teach a course debunking the claims made in various ethnic, gender, or other studies courses. Thomas Sowell
Our schools and colleges are turning out people who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do. Thomas Sowell
If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win. Thomas Sowell
