The Words of Thomas Sowell

The biggest myth about labor unions is that unions are for the workers. Unions are for unions, just as corporations are for corporations and politicians are for politicians.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011)

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Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.

— Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays (2006)

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Most people on the right have no problem understanding people on the left because many, if not most, were on the left themselves when they were younger. But many, if not most, people on the left find it inexplicable how any decent and intelligent person could be on the right.

— Some random thoughts on the right, the left, Mad and more (2008)

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Those who want to see quality education remain available to youngsters in low-income minority neighborhoods must raise the question, again and again, when various policies and practices are proposed: 'How is this going to affect the education of children?' Surprisingly large proportion of policies and practices cannot answer that question.

— Charter Schools and Their Enemies (2020)

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When it comes to lifting people out of poverty, redistribution of income has a much poorer track record than the creation of wealth. In some places, such as Zimbabwe today, attempts at a redistribution of wealth have turned out to be a redistribution of poverty. 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.

— The Cure for Poverty? Wealth (2006)

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But life does not ask us what we want. It presents us with options. Economics is one of the ways of trying to make the most of those options.

— Basic Economics (2000)

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Education is not merely neglected in many of our schools today, but is replaced to a great extent by ideological indoctrination.

— Why's There So Little Free Speech on Campus? (2013)

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The biggest hypocrites on gun control are those who live in upscale developments with armed security guards – and who want to keep other people from having guns to defend themselves. But what about lower-income people living in high-crime, inner city neighborhoods? Should such people be kept unarmed and helpless, so that limousine liberals can ’make a statement’ by adding to the thousands of gun laws already on the books?

— Gunning for guns (1999)

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If it were possible to enforce a ban on lying, a ghastly silence would fall over the city of Washington.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011)

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I've been noticing that whenever there's a great disaster, there always seems to be a Harvard man in the middle of it.

— Uncommon Knowledge: Intellectuals and Society, Revisited (Robinson) (2012)

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Many on the political left are so entranced by the beauty of their vision that they cannot see the ugly reality they are creating in the real world.

— Random Thoughts (2001)

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The concept of ‘microaggression’ is just one of many tactics used to stifle differences of opinion by declaring some opinions to be ‘hate speech,’ instead of debating those differences in a marketplace of ideas. To accuse people of aggression for not marching in lockstep with political correctness is to set the stage for justifying real aggression against them.”

— Micro-totalitarianism (2015)

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As long as the school has a captive audience and ironclad tenure, they're gonna do what they wanna do, no matter what the public wants, no matter what the parents want, no matter what the taxpayers want, and no matter what the employers want.

— WAMU: Inside American Education (Diane Rehm radio) (Rehm) (1993)

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Evidence and compelling logic is an enemy of dogmas, and one dealt with as an enemy by small but growing numbers of modern intellectuals.

— Intellectuals and Society (2009)

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Intellectuals give people who have the handicap of poverty the further handicap of a sense of victimhood.

— Intellectuals and Society (2009)

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The average American today has a standard of living that includes things that only the upper crust could have afforded in times past—and some things that even the rich didn’t have in past generations, like personal computers. But are the people who made that possible even mentioned, much less publicized and praised? There is not an inventor, scientist, medical researcher, or industrialist who is as well known as loudmouths like Rosie O’Donnell or Jesse Jackson. Any bimbo who exposes her body can get more attention than someone who finds ways to reduce the cost of housing for millions of people. In California, the bimbo can get favorable attention while the developer is condemned.

— Dismantling America: And Other Controversial Essays (2010), p. 203

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The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

— Is Reality Optional (1993)

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In the academic world, diversity means black leftists, white leftists, female leftists, and Hispanic leftists. Demographic diversity conceals ideological conformity.

— Controversial Essays (2002)

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The fatal attraction of government is that it allows busybodies to impose decisions on others without paying any price themselves. That enables them to act as if there were no price, even when there are ruinous prices—paid by others.

— Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays (2006), p. 301

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Dry, empirical questions are seldom as exciting as political causes or the ringing moral pronouncements. But empirical questions must be asked if we are truly interested in the well-being of others, rather than in excitement or a sense of moral superiority for ourselves. Perhaps the most important distinction is between what sounds good and what works.

— Uncommon Knowledge: Facts Against Rhetoric (Robinson) (2025)

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