The Words of Thomas Sowell

That people on the political left have a certain set of opinions… is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is how often the opinions of those on the left are accompanied by hostility and even hatred.

— The Anger Of The Left (2007)

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One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again. Do we need to keep repeating the same mistakes forever?

— Jewish World Review Column by Thomas Sowell (2001)

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Multiculturalism, like the caste system, tends to freeze people where the accident of birth has placed them. Unlike the caste system, multiculturalism holds out the prospect that, all cultures being equal, one's life chances should be the same— and that it is society's fault if these chances are not the same.

— Intellectuals and Race (2013)

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Many issues are misconstrued, not because they are too complex for most people to understand, but because a mundane explanation is far less emotionally satisfying than an explanation which produces villains to hate and heroes to exalt.

— Intellectuals and Society (2009), § The Dramatic

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Since wealth is the only thing that can cure poverty, you might think that the left would be as obsessed with the creation of wealth as they are with the redistribution of wealth. But you would be wrong.

— Dismantling America: And Other Controversial Essays (2010)

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While slavery was common to all civilizations, as well as to peoples considered uncivilized, only one civilization developed a moral revulsion against it, very late in its history—Western civilization.

— Black Rednecks and White Liberals (2005)

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Have you ever heard anyone as incoherent as the people staging protests across the country? Taxpayers ought to be protesting against having their money spent to educate people who end up unable to say anything beyond repeating political catch phrases.

— Random thoughts on the passing scene (2011)

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The totalitarian mindset behind the liberal vision shows through in innumerable ways. There are no institutions in America where free speech is more severely restricted than in our politically correct colleges and universities, dominated by liberals.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011), § "Forced to Volunteer"

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They talk about immigrants in the abstract, and there are no immigrants in the abstract... We don't have an immigration policy unless we control the border. It doesn't matter what our policy is. If anybody who wants to cross the border can cross, then our policy is just a bunch of words on paper.

— Uncommon Knowledge: Basic Economics (Robinson) (2014)

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No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produce. On the contrary, the growth of a large parasitic class marked the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and the collapse of Spain from the heights of its golden age.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011), § POWER TO THE PARASITES

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Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. Even countries that were once more prosperous than their neighbors have found themselves much poorer than their neighbors after just one generation of socialistic policies.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011)

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The last person to trust with power is someone who is dying to have it. The best person to wield power is someone who is reluctant to do so, but who will do it for a while as a civic duty. That is why term limits should make it impossible to have a whole career in politics.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011), § REFLECTIONS ON TERM LIMITS

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Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force. Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker’s productivity worth that amount—and, if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed.

— Basic Economics (2000)

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Life does not ask us what we want. It presents us with options."

— Basic Economics (2000), p. 23

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The course of history is determined by what people do with their opportunities.

— Free To Choose: Common Sense in a Senseless World (doc) (Riley) (2021)

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The word ‘racism’ is like ketchup. It can be put on practically anything – and demanding evidence makes you a ‘racist.’

— A Political Glossary (2012)

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The dogma that no culture is superior to any other is contradicted by facts at every turn. Virtually every culture is superior to some other cultures at something. How many cultures can brew beer like the Germans, create wine like the French or make Sake like the Japanese?

— Controversial Essays (2002)

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It is amazing how many people think that they can answer an argument by attributing bad motives to those who disagree with them.

— Random Thoughts (2001)

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We live in Western civilization. That's why you ought to study it... To talk about why do we study Western civilization rather than other civilizations, you might as well ask why do we study the Earth instead of other planets and other galaxies.

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

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Barack Obama has not only said that he is out to “change the United States of America,” the people he has been associated with for years have expressed in words and deeds their hostility to the values, the principles and the people of this country.

— Dismantling America: And Other Controversial Essays (2010), p. 6

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