Thomas Sowell Quotes

American - Economist Born: June 30, 1930

It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. - Thomas Sowell

It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. Thomas Sowell

Funny, Knowledge, Ignorance, Realize

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

Stupid, People, Decisions, Hands, Price

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

Politics, Economics, Enough, Lesson, Who

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. - Thomas Sowell

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. Thomas Sowell

Leadership, People, Meetings, Enjoy, Who

The old adage about giving a man a fish versus teaching him how to fish has been updated by a reader: Give a man a fish and he will ask for tartar sauce and French fries! Moreover, some politician who wants his vote will declare all these things to be among his 'basic rights.' Thomas Sowell

Man, Giving, Vote, Fish, Him, Rights

The black family survived centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, but it has disintegrated in the wake of the liberals' expansion of the welfare state. Thomas Sowell

Family, Slavery, Black, Expansion, Crow

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

Business, People, Media, News, Important

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

Today, Politics, Rules, You, Play, Same

Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. Thomas Sowell

Failure, Socialism, Ignore, Intellectual

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

Health, Amazing, Government, People, Pay

Top 10
Thomas Sowell
Quotes

Do countries with strong gun control laws have lower murder rates? Only if you cherry-pick the data. Thomas Sowell

Strong, Gun, Control, Data, You, Laws

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

Thinking, Problem, Think, Feeling, Know

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

Path, Society, Moral, Free, Resistance

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

Culture, World, Blame, You, Down, Praise

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

Freedom, Road, Government, People, Long

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

Weather, Tomorrow, Foundation, You, Why

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

Time, Progress, Looking, Long, Country

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

People, Wealth, Tax, Without, Way, Taxes

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

Government, Data, Cry, Nothing, Never

Creating whole departments of ethnic, gender, and other 'studies' was part of the price of academic peace. All too often, these 'studies' are about propaganda rather than serious education. Thomas Sowell

Education, Peace, Gender, Serious, Price

Facts are not liberals' strong suit. Rhetoric is. Thomas Sowell

Strong, Facts, Rhetoric, Suit, Liberals

The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers. Thomas Sowell

Women, Men, Country, Democrats, Divide

The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive. Thomas Sowell

Work, Ideas, Political, Find, Survive

Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric. Thomas Sowell

Freedom, Too Much, Blood, Rhetoric, Cost

The real minimum wage is zero. Thomas Sowell

Minimum Wage, Real, Zero, Wage, Minimum

Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them. Thomas Sowell

People, Help, Immigration, Laws, Only

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John Kenneth Galbraith

Milton Friedman

Murray Rothbard

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