--- title: "4 Decades Quotes By Thomas Friedman" description: "4 Decades quotes by Thomas Friedman. Plus more from Thomas Friedman and more Decades sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/thomas-friedman-1784_apps_something-really-big-happened-in-the-wor_874507.jpg" --- > [Something really big happened in the world's wiring in the last decade, but it was obscured by the financial crisis and post-9/11.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/something-really-big-happened-in-the-world-s-wiring-in-the-last/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/thomas-friedman-1784_apps_something-really-big-happened-in-the-wor_874507.jpg) > [Syria is on the back end of basically a decade-long drought. Over the last decade, farmers and herders have been ravaged in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/syria-is-on-the-back-end-of-basically-a-decade-long-drought-over-the/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/thomas-friedman-1784_areas_syria-is-on-the-back-end-of-basically-a_930754.png) > [A 2011 report produced by Forrester Research estimated that the revenue generated through the sales of smartphone and tablet applications will reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/a-2011-report-produced-by-forrester-research-estimated-that-the/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/434/thomas-friedman-1784_application_a-2011-report-produced-by-forrester-rese_1883193.png) > [You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/you-really-do-have-to-wonder-whether-a-few-years-from-now-we-ll-look/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/thomas-friedman-1784_21st-century_you-really-do-have-to-wonder-whether-a-f_2142630.jpg) ## Other authors on Decades ## More by Thomas Friedman > [I'm pretty much an open book. I am a fanatic golfer and golf nut. If I have three free hours any day, my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/i-m-pretty-much-an-open-book-i-am-a-fanatic-golfer-and-golf-nut-if-i/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [The financial crisis just made the hole deeper, which is why our stimulus needs to be both big and smart, both financially and educationally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/the-financial-crisis-just-made-the-hole-deeper-which-is-why-our/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Many jobs at Google require math, computing, and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/many-jobs-at-google-require-math-computing-and-coding-skills-so-if/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Never before in the history of the planet have so many people, on their own, had the ability to find so much information about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/never-before-in-the-history-of-the-planet-have-so-many-people-on/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [When I was growing up, my parents told me, 'Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.' I tell my daughters, 'Finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/when-i-was-growing-up-my-parents-told-me-finish-your-dinner-people-in/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/hillary-clinton-has-decided-to-line-up-with-john-mccain-in-pushing-to/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Two things are going on at the same time with the flattening of the world: The relentless quest for efficiency is squeezing some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/two-things-are-going-on-at-the-same-time-with-the-flattening-of-the/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Our president's latest energy initiative was to go to Saudi Arabia and beg King Abdullah to give us a little relief on gasoline prices.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/our-president-s-latest-energy-initiative-was-to-go-to-saudi-arabia/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [I don't think the Arab Spring had much to do with energy. I think it was just the opposite, in fact. I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/i-don-t-think-the-arab-spring-had-much-to-do-with-energy-i-think-it/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Until we fully understand what turned two brothers who allegedly perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings into murderers, it is hard to make any policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/until-we-fully-understand-what-turned-two-brothers-who-allegedly/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Geopolitics is all about leverage. We cannot make ourselves safer abroad unless we change our behavior at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/geopolitics-is-all-about-leverage-we-cannot-make-ourselves-safer/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/big-breakthroughs-happen-when-what-is-suddenly-possible-meets-what-is/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [That's right-the striking thing about greenhouse gases is the diversity of sources that emit them. A herd of cattle belching can be worse than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/that-s-right-the-striking-thing-about-greenhouse-gases-is-the/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [There is something more severe than the problem with Thomas Friedman, which can be generalized to represent someone causing action while being completely unaccountable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/there-is-something-more-severe-than-the-problem-with-thomas-friedman/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/pessimists-are-usually-right-and-optimists-are-usually-wrong-but-all/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decades/thomas-friedman/#itemlist", "name": "4 Decades Quotes By Thomas Friedman", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Something really big happened in the world's wiring in the last decade, but it was obscured by the financial crisis and post-9/11. 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