The history of which peoples, nations, or civilizations have conquered or enslaved which other peoples, nations, or civilizations has been largely a history of who has been in a position to do so.
THOMAS SOWELLPeople who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.
More Thomas Sowell Quotes
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Age gives you an excuse for not being very good at things that you were not very good at when you were young.
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The media are less a window on reality, than a stage on which officials and journalists perform self-scripted, self-serving fictions.
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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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There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.
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Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.
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If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.
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Justice at all costs’ is not justice.
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It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance.
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Government “planning” is not an alternative to chaos. It is a pre-emption of other people’s plans.
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Ronald Reagan had a vision of America. Barack Obama has a vision of Barack Obama.
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Suppose you are wrong? How would you know? How would you test for that possibility?
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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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Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.
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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.
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People who pride themselves on their “complexity” and deride others for being “simplistic” should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.
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To believe in personal responsibility would be to destroy the whole special role of the anointed, whose vision casts them in the role of rescuers of people treated unfairly by society.
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The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites.
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It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.
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No one chooses which culture to be born into or can be blamed for how that culture evolved in past centuries.
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I have never understood why it is “greed” to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money.
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The purpose of education is to give the student the intellectual tools to analyze, whether verbally or numerically, and to reach conclusions based on logic and evidence.
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We should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.
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Since this is an era when many people are concerned about ‘fairness’ and ‘social justice,’ what is your ‘fair share’ of what someone else has worked for?
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Life does not ask what we want. It presents us with options.
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Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.
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No government of the left has done as much for the poor as capitalism has. Even when it comes to the redistribution of income, the left talks the talk but the free market walks the walk.
THOMAS SOWELL