You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing. Thomas Sowell More Quotes by Thomas Sowell More Quotes From Thomas Sowell One of the most important skills for political success is the ability to make confident assertions of absurdities or lies. Thomas Sowell politicalskillslying Nothing could be more jolting and discordant with the vision of today's intellectuals than the fact that it was businessmen, devout religious leaders and Western imperialists who together destroyed slavery around the world. And if it doesn't fit their vision, it is the same to them as if it never happened. Thomas Sowell visionleaderreligious Deception is one of the quickest ways to gain little things and lose big things. Thomas Sowell deceptionlittlesway Too often the past has been twisted to fit the visions and agendas of the present. Thomas Sowell ministryvisionpast Even squirrels know enough to store nuts, so that they will have something to eat when food gets scarce. But the welfare state has spawned a whole class of people who spend everything they get when times are good, and look to others to provide for their food and other basic needs when times turn bad. Thomas Sowell squirrelsnutsclass Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention to facts but dogmatism will not be corrected by those who are wedded to a vision. Thomas Sowell visiondecisionmistake Our national problems usually do not cause nearly as much harm as the solutions. Thomas Sowell harmcausesproblem Someone recently pointed out how much Barack Obama's style and strategies resemble those of Latin American charismatic despots - the takeover of industries by demagogues who never ran a business, the rousing rhetoric of resentment addressed to the masses and the personal cult of the leader promoted by the media. But do we want to become the world's largest banana republic? Thomas Sowell medialeaderlatin Would you bet your paycheck on a weather forecast for tomorrow? If not, then why should this country bet billions on global warming predictions that have even less foundation? Thomas Sowell foundationweathercountry Rhetoric is no substitute for reality. Thomas Sowell rhetoricsubstitutesreality Much of what sophisticates loftily refer to as the "complexityof the real world is in fact the inconsistency in their own minds. Thomas Sowell societyrealmind 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? Thomas Sowell politicaljusticepeople No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: 'But what would you replace it with?' When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with? Thomas Sowell libertyfirematter The income tax has spawned an intrusive bureaucracy, creating so much complexity and red tape that millions of ordinary citizens have to go get some accountant to fill out the forms for them - and then sign under penalty of perjury that it was done right. If you knew how to do it right, you wouldn't have to go to somebody else to have it done, would you? Thomas Sowell incomecreatingordinary Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good. In area after area - crime, education, housing, race relations - the situation has gotten worse after the bright new theories were put into operation. The amazing thing is that this history of failure and disaster has neither discouraged the social engineers nor discredited them. Thomas Sowell threeracepast ...Politics is not about facts. It is about what politicians can get people to believe. Thomas Sowell believefactspeople Much of the self-righteous nonsense that abounds on so many subjects cannot stand up to three questions: (1) Compared to what? (2) At what cost? and (3) What are the hard facts?. Thomas Sowell costthreeself People who refuse to accept unpleasant truths have no right to complain about politicians who lie to them. What other kind of candidates would such people elect? Thomas Sowell complaininglyingpeople One of many problems with survey research in general is that you can only survey the survivors. In other words, if you were to do a survey of people who were known to have played Russian Roulette and you sent out the questions before the time they were going to play and then you come back six months after they played Russian Roulette, you would probably discover that among the people who did come back there was no harm done. Thomas Sowell monthsplaypeople Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God. Thomas Sowell troubleidentityremember
