“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.”

—  Thomas Sowell

Last update April 21, 2026. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny do…" by Thomas Sowell?
Thomas Sowell photo
Thomas Sowell101
American economist, social theorist, political philosopher … 1930

Related quotes

Joey Comeau photo

“My problem is that I can't come unless Johnny Cash is playing.”

Joey Comeau (1980) writer

"The girl who couldn't come."
Anthology

G. K. Chesterton photo

“It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem.”

G. K. Chesterton book The Scandal of Father Brown

The Scandal of Father Brown (1935) The Point of a Pin
The Father Brown Mystery Series (1910 - 1927)

Anthony de Mello photo

“Johnny goes to modeling class in his school for special children and he gets his piece of putty and he's modeling it. He takes a little lump of putty and goes to a corner of the room and he's playing with it. The teacher comes up to him and says, "Hi, Johnny." And Johnny says, "Hi." And the teacher says, "What's that you've got in your hand?" And Johnny says, "This is a lump of cow dung." The teacher asks, "What are you making out of it?" He says, "I'm making a teacher."
The teacher thought, "Little Johnny has regressed." So she calls out to the principal, who was passing by the door at that moment, and says, "Johnny has regressed."
So the principal goes up to Johnny and says, "Hi, son." And Johnny says, "Hi." And the principal says, "What do you have in your hand?" And he says, "A lump of cow dung." "What are you making out of it?" And he says, "A principal."
The principal thinks that this is a case for the school psychologist. "Send for the psychologist!"
The psychologist is a clever guy. He goes up and says, "Hi." And Johnny says, "Hi." And the psychologist says, "I know what you've got in your hand." "What?" "A lump cow dung." Johnny says, "Right." "And I know what you're making out of it." "What?" "You're making a psychologist."”

Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian writer

"Wrong. Not enough cow dung!"
Spirituality Course", p. 13
Awareness (1992)

“Any time your life is at stake and you can't find even one woman to come forward and say, 'This is a good man,' your problem isn't what kind of woman THEY are. Your problem is what kind of men YOU are.”

Pearl Cleage (1948) American novelist

Source: Just Wanna Testify

Ann Brashares photo

“Your problem isn't the problem, it's your attitude about the problem.”

Ann Brashares The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Variant: The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Got that? -Coach Brevin
Source: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

“Blackmailers never explain their thinking. They're like pirates that way. Dark-hearted, dangerous--- and cool like Johnny Depp.”

Janette Rallison (1966) American writer

Source: How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend

“Because Johnny was especially clever I think we should make him monitor for the whole week. Don't you?”

James Clavell book The Children's Story

"Teacher"
The Children's Story (1982)

Chuck Palahniuk photo

“When you think about it from a native plant perspective," Oyster says."Johnny Apple seed was a fucking biological terrorist.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Lullaby

Source: Lullaby (2002), Chapter 19

Ray Bradbury photo

“The problem in our country isn't with books being banned, but with people no longer reading.”

Ray Bradbury book Ray Bradbury

As quoted in &quot;Bradbury Still Believes in Heat of ‘Fahrenheit 451’&quot; http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930312&amp;slug=1689996, interview by Misha Berson, in &#x27;, credited to &quot;Ray Bradbury, quoted by Misha Berson in Seattle Times&quot;, in &quot;Quotable Quotes&quot;, The Reader&#x27;s Digest, Vol. 144, No. 861, January 1994, p. 25 http://books.google.com/books?output=html&amp;id=ZqqUAAAAIAAJ&amp;q=%22people+to+stop+reading%22#search_anchor), or an indirect reference to the re-quoting in Reader&#x27;s Digest (such as: The Times Book of Quotations (Philip Howard, ed.), 2000, Times Books and HarperCollins, p. 93<br>Variant: We&#x27;re not teaching kids to read and write and think. … There&#x27;s no reason to burn books if you don&#x27;t read them.<br>As quoted in &quot;At 80, Ray Bradbury Still Fighting the Future He Foresaw&quot; http://www.raybradbury.com/articles_peoria.html, interview by Roger Moore, in The Peoria Journal Star (August 2000) <br class="br">Context: The problem in our country isn&#x27;t with books being banned, but with people no longer reading. Look at the magazines, the newspapers around us – it&#x27;s all junk, all trash, tidbits of news. The average TV ad has 120 images a minute. Everything just falls off your mind. … You don&#x27;t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

Related topics