Thomas Sowell Quotes

“While the creation of wealth may be more effective for enabling millions of people to rise out of poverty, it provides no special role for the political left, no puffed-up importance, no moral superiority. Redistribution is clearly better for the left.” — Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell on why intellectuals feel pressured to share opinions.

Thomas Sowell explains that it doesn't matter how smart you are unless you stop and think.

“One of the reasons it has taken so long for some people to finally see through Barack Obama is that people do not like to admit, even to themselves, that they have been played for fools by a slick-talking politician.” — Thomas Sowell

“The act of reaching into one’s own pockets to help a fellow man in need is praiseworthy and laudable. Reaching into someone else’s pocket is despicable.” — Walter E. Williams

“There are few talents more richly rewarded with both wealth and power, in countries around the world, than the ability to convince backward people that their problems are caused by other people who are more advanced.” — Thomas Sowell

“If we’re ignorant, we won’t even know when government infringes on our liberties. Moreover, we’ll happily cast our votes for those who’d destroy our liberties.” — Walter E. Williams

"For university presidents, as for politicians at all levels, one of the most valuable talents for the success of their careers is the ability to say things that make no sense, with a straight face and a lofty tone." — Thomas Sowell

“I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.” — Ronald Reagan

“Safety advocates who say that we shouldn't take chances, but should ban things that might be unsafe, don't seem to understand that if we banned every food to which somebody had an allergy we could all starve to death.” — Thomas Sowell

“Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer.” — Ronald Reagan

“Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.” — Milton Friedman

“Most people on the left are not opposed to freedom. They are just in favor of all sorts of things that are incompatible with freedom. Freedom ultimately means the right of other people to do things that you do not approve of.” — Thomas Sowell

“The most important ways in which I think the Internet will affect the big issue is that it will make it more difficult for government to collect taxes.” — Milton Friedman