Thomas Sowell: Being

Thomas Sowell is American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author. Explore interesting quotes on being.
Thomas Sowell: 202   quotes 45   likes

“One of the consequences of such notions as ‘entitlements’ is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.”

Thomas Sowell
People , Feeling

“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.”

Thomas Sowell

Source: 1980s–1990s, Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

People , Truth

“Some of the most vocal critics of the way things are being done are people who have done nothing themselves, and whose only contributions to society are their complaints and moral exhibitionism.”

Thomas Sowell

Random Thoughts http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell101705.asp, Oct. 17, 2005
2000s

People , Way

“It may be expecting too much to expect most intellectuals to have common sense, when their whole life is based on their being uncommon -- that is, saying things that are different from what everyone else is saying. There is only so much genuine originality in anyone. After that, being uncommon means indulging in pointless eccentricities or clever attempts to mock or shock.”

Thomas Sowell

Random Thought
2000s, Ever Wonder Why? and Other Controversial Essays (2006)

Life , Sense

“If you don't believe in the innate unreasonableness of human beings, just try raising children.”

Thomas Sowell

1980s–1990s, Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Children

“What was special about America was not that it had slavery, which existed all over the world, but that Americans were among the very few peoples who began to question the morality of holding human beings in bondage. That was not yet a majority view among Americans in the 18th century, but it was not even a serious minority view.”

Thomas Sowell

"The Scapegoat for Strife in the Black Community" http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420807/slavery-didnt-cause-todays-black-problems-welfare-did (7 July 2015), National Review
2010s

People , World , Question

“Too many Republicans treat English as a second language, with Beltway lingo being their native tongue.”

Thomas Sowell

Syndicated column https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19961212&id=1zsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SKYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6510,2218257&hl=en, retrieved from The Tuscaloosa News, December 13, 1996.
1980s–1990s

“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. Know-it-alls in the school system do not lose one dime or one hour's sleep if their bright ideas turn out to be all wrong, or even disastrous, for the child.”

Thomas Sowell

Wake up, Parents http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell081800.asp, Jewish World Review, 18 August 2000.
2000s

People , Stupidity , School , Way

“In a world where young blacks, especially, are bombarded with claims that they are being unfairly targeted by police, and where a general attitude of belligerence is being promoted literally in word and song, it is hard not to wonder whether some people's responses to policemen do not have something to do with the policemen's responses to them. Neither the police nor people in any other occupation always do what is right but automatic belligerence is not the answer.”

Thomas Sowell

"Driving While Black" http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell103107.php3 (31 October 2007), Jewish World Review.
2000s

People , World

“Understanding the limitations of human beings is the beginning of wisdom.”

Thomas Sowell

Police Shootings
1980s–1990s, Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays (1987)

Wisdom , Understanding

“Before the Iraq war I was quite disturbed by some of the neoconservatives, who were saying things like, "What is the point of being a superpower if you can't do such-and-such, take on these responsibilities?" The point of being a superpower is that people will leave you alone.”

Thomas Sowell

"Live" with Thomas Sowell https://www.aei.org/publication/live-thomas-sowell/, The American Enterprise, September 2004.
2000s

War , People

“People who think that they are being "exploited" should ask themselves whether they would be missed if they left, or whether people would say: "Good riddance?"”

Thomas Sowell

Random thoughts http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell042902.asp, Jewish World Review, April 29, 2002
2000s

People , Thinking

“Neither in nature nor among human beings are either equal or randomly distributed outcomes automatic. On the contrary, grossly unequal distributions of outcomes are common, both in nature and among people, in circumstances where neither genes nor discrimination are involved… The idea that it would be a level playing field, if it were not for either genes or discrimination, is a preconception in defiance of both logic and facts.”

Thomas Sowell

Source: Discriminations and Disparities (2018), p. 17.

Idea , People , Nature