The murder of a dozen innocent people is unquestionably a human tragedy. But that is no excuse for reacting blindly by preventing hundreds of thousands of other people from defending themselves against meeting the same fate. Thomas Sowell More Quotes by Thomas Sowell More Quotes From Thomas Sowell 'Fair' is one of the most dangerous concepts in politics. Since no two people are likely to agree on what is 'fair,' this means that there must be some third party with power - the government - to impose its will. The road to despotism is paved with 'fairness'. Thomas Sowell partygovernmentmean The great escape of our times is escape from personal responsibility for the consequences of one's own behavior. Thomas Sowell great-escapebehaviorresponsibility 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 when they go outside their narrow fields. Thomas Sowell ignorancetalkingpeople It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it. Thomas Sowell doctorsgovernmentthinking A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for knowing what the hell you're talking about. Thomas Sowell knowingtalkingcommitment When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination. Thomas Sowell equal-treatmentdiscriminationpeople Just as any moron can destroy a priceless Ming vase, so the shallow and ill-educated people who run our schools can undermine and destroy from within a great civilization that took centuries of dedicated effort to create and maintain. Thomas Sowell runningcivilizationschool Hilary Clinton said you know, it takes a village to raise a child and somebody said it takes a village idiot to believe that … it is part of the whole thing of third parties wanting to make decisions for which they pay no price for when they’re wrong. Thomas Sowell partybelievechildren You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible. Thomas Sowell irresponsibilityresponsiblepeople It is amazing how many people act as if the right to free speech includes the right to be free of criticism for what you say - which means that other people should not have the same right to free speech that they claim for themselves. Thomas Sowell criticismmeanpeople People who are very aware that they have more knowledge than the average person are often very unaware that they do not have one-tenth of the knowledge of all of the average persons put together. In this situation, for the intelligentsia to impose their notions on ordinary people is essentially to impose ignorance on knowledge. Thomas Sowell ignoranceaveragepeople The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers. Thomas Sowell doersmencountry 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 politicsfeelingsthinking There is nothing that politicians like better than handing out benefits to be paid for by someone else. Thomas Sowell benefitspoliticianpolitical Liberalism is totalitarianism with a human face. Thomas Sowell liberalismconservativefaces Once you buy the argument that some segment of the citizenry should lose their rights, just because they are envied or resented, you are putting your own rights in jeopardy - quite aside from undermining any moral basis for respecting anybody's rights. You are opening the floodgates to arbitrary power. And once you open the floodgates, you can't tell the water where to go. Thomas Sowell arbitraryrightswater If you truly believe in the brotherhood of man, then you must believe that blacks are just as capable of being racists as whites are. Thomas Sowell brotherhood-of-manmenbelieve The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy. Thomas Sowell successfulreflectionliars 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. Thomas Sowell libertypresidentcomplaining 'Global warming' is just the latest in a long line of hysterical crusades to which we seem to be increasingly susceptible. Thomas Sowell global-warminglineslong
