For the anointed, traditions are likely to be seen as the dead hand of the past, relics of a less enlightened age, and not as the distilled experience of millions who faced similar human vicissitudes before.
THOMAS SOWELLThe 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.
More Thomas Sowell Quotes
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Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.
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Intellect is not wisdom.
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Virtually no idea is too ridiculous to be accepted, even by very intelligent and highly educated people, if it provides a way for them to feel special and important. Some confuse that feeling with idealism.
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If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly.
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Heedless of the past, we are flying blind into the future.
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The government is indeed an institution, but “the market” is nothing more than an option for each individual to chose among numerous existing institutions, or to fashion new arrangements suited to his own situation and taste.
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I am so old that I can remember when other people’s achievements were considered to be an inspiration, rather than a grievance.
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Talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty.
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Ronald Reagan had a vision of America. Barack Obama has a vision of Barack Obama.
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One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.
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Liberals seem to assume that, if you don’t believe in their particular political solutions, then you don’t really care about the people that they claim to want to help.
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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.
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When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.
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Freedom must be distinguished from democracy, with which it is often confused.
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One of the first things taught in introductory statistics textbooks is that correlation is not causation. It is also one of the first things forgotten.
THOMAS SOWELL