The Words of Thomas Sowell

It was Thomas Edison who brought us electricity, not the Sierra Club. It was the Wright brothers who got us off the ground, not the Federal Aviation Administration. It was Henry Ford who ended the isolation of millions of Americans by making the automobile affordable, not Ralph Nader. Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing "compassion" for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about.

— The Real Public Service (2010)

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Despite a voluminous and often fervent literature on "income distribution," the cold fact is that most income is not distributed: It is earned.

— The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy (1995)

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Our tax system penalizes those who are producing wealth in order to subsidize those who are only consuming it.

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

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Slavery was not confined by race. It was not defined or created by race. It existed for thousands of years. A history professor once had a student come up to him and ask, ‘When did slavery begin?’ The real question is: when did freedom begin? Slavery existed as long as we have records. From archaeological findings, we know that people were enslaving other people before they could read or write. It has always existed and has existed all over the world. The number of White people enslaved by pirates in North Africa was greater than the number of Africans brought to the United States. And yet, that’s not even mentioned.

— C-SPAN Interview

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The black family survived centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, but it has disintegrated in the wake of the liberals' expansion of the welfare state

— Liberalism Versus Blacks (2013)

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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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We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.

— Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays (2006), p. 454

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I've often said there are three questions that would destroy most of the arguments on the left. The first is 'compared to what?' The second is 'at what cost?' And the third is 'what hard evidence do you have?'

— Thomas Sowell: In The Right Direction (2005)

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Many colleges claim that they develop 'leaders.' All too often, that means turning out graduates who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do. There are already too many people like that, and they are a menace to everyone else's freedom.

— Dismantling America: And Other Controversial Essays (2010), p. 335

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Of all ignorance, the ignorance of the educated is the most dangerous. Not only are educated people likely to have more influence, they are the last people to suspect that they don't know what they are talking about.

— The Thomas Sowell Reader (2011)

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Let the media discover that any of the sins that have plagued the human race for thousands of years still exist in the United States, and it becomes a special condemnation of American society. The morally anointed are constantly outraged that we have not obliterated racism, poverty, or disease. It would be fascinating to know who has—and how. But a look around the world shows that our problems in these areas are like a sprained ankle compared to cancer.

— Compassion Versus Guilt and other Essays (1985), p. 225

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The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny doesn't know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.

— Inside American Education (1993), Ch. 1

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Some things must be done on faith, but the most dangerous kind of faith is that which masquerades as ‘science.’

— Is Reality Optional (1993)

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What ‘multiculturalism’ boils down to is that you can praise any culture in the world except Western culture—and you cannot blame any culture in the world except Western culture.

— Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays (2006), p. 456

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Europe is belatedely discovering how unbelievably stupid it was to import millions of people from cultures that despise Western values and which often promote hatred toward the people who have let them in.

— Anti-Trust Law and Lawlessness (2015)

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The dirty little secret of liberal politics is that it is not about the poor or "social justice" but is about the political careers and moral exaltation of liberals themselves. The actual consequences of liberal policies on the poor or others seldom receives anything like the amount of attention given to promoting these policies and demonizing the critics of these politics.

— Random Thoughts (2012)

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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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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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Ours may become the first civilization destroyed, not by the power of our enemies, but by the ignorance of our teachers and the dangerous nonsense they are teaching our children. In an age of artificial intelligence, they are creating artificial stupidity.

— Controversial Essays (2002)

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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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