The curse of the intelligentsia is their ability to rationalize and re-define. Ordinary people, lacking that gift, are forced to face reality. — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
A recent poll shows that a majority of blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics do not think the Census should be classifying people… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
You don't send people to prison on the basis of what other people imagine, or on the basis of media sound bites… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
It is truly a triumph of rhetoric over reality when people can believe that going into politics is 'public service,' but that… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
A lot of what is called 'public service' consists of making hoops for other people to jump through. It is a great… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
When government takes away options, it is bound to make some people worse off, even with intrinsicallly good intentions behind that government… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Lunches don't get free just because you don't see the prices on the menu. And economists don't get popular by reminding people… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
How a man who holds the entire population of a country as his prisoners, and punishes the families of those who escape,… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The promotion of "self-esteem" in our schools has been so successful that people feel free to spout off about all sorts of… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Since terrorists are pouring into Iraq in response to calls from international terrorist networks, the number of those who are killed is… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
By the end of the 20th century, "liberals" had again discredited themselves, to the point where they went back to calling themselves… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The people made worse off by slavery were those who were enslaved. Their descendants would have been worse off today if born… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in creationism in government. In other words, they believe that the universe and… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
One of many problems with survey research in general is that you can only survey the survivors. In other words, if you… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
In the wake of the housing debacle in California, more people are buying less expensive homes, making bigger down payments, and staying… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The more adaptability exists for a given kind of decision, the less risky it is to make plans for the future, and… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Capitalism is not an 'ism.' It is closer to being the opposite of an 'ism,' because it is simply the freedom of… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
People who decry the fact that businesses are in business "just to make money" seldom understand the implications of what they are… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Progress in general seems to hold little interest for people who call themselves 'progressives.' What arouses them are denunciations of social failures… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Congressman Frank and Senator Dodd wanted the government to push financial institutions to lend to people they would not lend to otherwise,… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The murder of a dozen innocent people is unquestionably a human tragedy. But that is no excuse for reacting blindly by preventing… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
In their zeal for particular kinds of decisions to be made, those with the vision of the anointed seldom consider the nature… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The biggest hypocrites on gun control are those who live in upscale developments with armed security guards - and who want to… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
People who thing that they are getting something for nothing, by having government provide what they would otherwise have to buy in… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The way to get people's votes is to say that all their problems are caused by other people, and that you will… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
What is especially disturbing about the political left is that they seem to have no sense of the tragedy of the human… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Not since the days of the Hitler Youth have young people been subjected to more propaganda on more politically correct issues. At… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The poor are the very lifeblood of the left, attracting activists, supporting among the intelligentsia, and - perhaps most important - allowing… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
ANYONE who studies the history of ideas should notice how much more often people on the political left, more so than others,… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Weighing benefits against costs is the way most people make decisions - and the way most businesses make decisions, if they want… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The grand delusion of contemporary liberals is that they have both the right and the ability to move their fellow creatures around… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
People in the political world have every incentive to say things that lead voters away from a clear economic understanding of issues.… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
More than half of all people filing income tax forms use someone else to prepare the forms for them. Then they have… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
What the political left, even in democratic countries, share is the notion that knowledgeable and virtuous people like themselves have both a… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Too often what are called "educated" people are simply people who have been sheltered from reality for years in ivy-covered buildings. Those… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
Most people who read "The Communist Manifesto" probably have no idea that it was written by a couple of young men who… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
It is not the dignitaries who are the real cause of hope, however. What is an enormously refreshing and hopeful sign is… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share Image
The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
“In 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy, like both Democratic and Republican Presidents and Secretaries of the Treasury in earlier years, pointed out that “it… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
Ideological bigotry has become the norm on even our most prestigious campuses, where students can go for years without reading or hearing anything that… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
Bailing out people who made ill-advised mortgages makes no more sense that bailing out people who lost their life savings in Las Vegas casinos. — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
“One third of all Scots in the mid-nineteenth century moved from one county to another” — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
The difference is that we have the hardest and most painful evidence that there was a Holocaust. But, for the global warming scenario that… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
“Just as price fluctuations allocate scarce resources which have alternative uses, price controls which limit those fluctuations reduce the incentives for individuals to limit… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
The greatest danger to the liberal vision are facts about the consequences of liberalism itself and the laws, policies, and ways of life that… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
Do all children have some inherent right to live in America if they have done nothing wrong? If not, then why should the children… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
What 'eminent domain' laws mean in practice is that politicians have a right to seize your property and turn it over to someone else,… — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
“those parts of the British Isles without the advantage of coal deposits or ports, industrialization was as handicapped as in other countries.” — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
The whole idea of equal justice under law is completely incompatible with the idea of judges deciding cases according to "empathy". — Thomas Sowell Copy Share
