--- title: "2 Affirmative action Quotes By Thomas Sowell" description: "2 Affirmative action quotes by Thomas Sowell. Plus more from Thomas Sowell and more Affirmative action sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f30/thomas-sowell-247_affirmative-action_however-much-history-may-be-invoked-in-s_1312187.jpg" --- > [“However much history may be invoked in support of these policies (affirmative action), no policy can apply to history but can only apply to the present or the future. The past may be many things, but it is clearly irrevocable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/however-much-history-may-be-invoked-in-support-of-these-policies/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f30/thomas-sowell-247_affirmative-action_however-much-history-may-be-invoked-in-s_1312187.jpg) > [ \[A\]ffirmative action in the United States has made blacks. . .who have largely lifted themselves out of poverty, look like people who owe their rise to affirmative action and other government programs. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/a-ffirmative-action-in-the-united-states-has-made-blacks-who-have/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2c/thomas-sowell-247_action_a-ffirmative-action-in-the-united-states_2248323.jpg) ## Other authors on Affirmative action - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-sonia-sotomayor-86182.jpg) Sonia Sotomayor 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmative-action/sonia-sotomayor/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-cornel-west-25169.jpg) Cornel West 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmative-action/cornel-west/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-shelby-steele-84811.jpg) Shelby Steele 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmative-action/shelby-steele/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-michelle-alexander-67636.jpg) Michelle Alexander 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmative-action/michelle-alexander/) ## More by Thomas Sowell > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There is no bigger waste of time than doing 90% of what is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/there-is-no-bigger-waste-of-time-than-doing-90-of-what-is-necessary/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/if-you-have-always-believed-that-everyone-should-play-by-the-same/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/in-1962-democratic-president-john-f-kennedy-like-both-democratic-and/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Ideological bigotry has become the norm on even our most prestigious campuses, where students can go for years without reading or hearing anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/ideological-bigotry-has-become-the-norm-on-even-our-most-prestigious/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/bailing-out-people-who-made-ill-advised-mortgages-makes-no-more-sense/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“One third of all Scots in the mid-nineteenth century moved from one county to another”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/one-third-of-all-scots-in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-moved-from-one/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The difference is that we have the hardest and most painful evidence that there was a Holocaust. But, for the global warming scenario that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-difference-is-that-we-have-the-hardest-and-most-painful-evidence/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“Just as price fluctuations allocate scarce resources which have alternative uses, price controls which limit those fluctuations reduce the incentives for individuals to limit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/just-as-price-fluctuations-allocate-scarce-resources-which-have/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The greatest danger to the liberal vision are facts about the consequences of liberalism itself and the laws, policies, and ways of life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-greatest-danger-to-the-liberal-vision-are-facts-about-the/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Do all children have some inherent right to live in America if they have done nothing wrong? If not, then why should the children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/do-all-children-have-some-inherent-right-to-live-in-america-if-they/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [What 'eminent domain' laws mean in practice is that politicians have a right to seize your property and turn it over to someone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/what-eminent-domain-laws-mean-in-practice-is-that-politicians-have-a/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“those parts of the British Isles without the advantage of coal deposits or ports, industrialization was as handicapped as in other countries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/those-parts-of-the-british-isles-without-the-advantage-of-coal/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The whole idea of equal justice under law is completely incompatible with the idea of judges deciding cases according to "empathy".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-whole-idea-of-equal-justice-under-law-is-completely-incompatible/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmative-action/thomas-sowell/#itemlist", "name": "2 Affirmative action Quotes By Thomas Sowell", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“However much history may be invoked in support of these policies (affirmative action), no policy can apply to history but can only apply to the present or the future. 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