Thomas Sowell is a legendary economist that is as much celebrated as Milton Friedman. He has written numerous books, essays and articles over the years. Some of them include “Basic Economics,” “The Thomas Sowell Reader,” “Intellectuals and Society” and the list goes on. He still writes to this date for an array of outlets, including Town Hall, the National Review and Real Clear Politics.
If you’re not familiar with Sowell then here are 20 quotes to get you acquainted with Sowell:
On government activism:
“It is amazing how many people seem to think that the government exists to turn their prejudices into laws.”
On compassionate liberals:
“No matter how much people on the left talk about compassion, they have no compassion for the taxpayers.”
On protests:
“There is something obscene about people holding protest rallies in order to try to keep getting money that someone else worked for.”
On society’s hatred of achievements:
“I am so old that I can remember when other people’s achievements were considered to be an inspiration, rather than a grievance.”
On government bailouts:
“Government bailouts are like potato chips: You can’t stop with just one.”
On gratitude being old-fashioned:
“Thanksgiving may be our most old-fashioned holiday. Gratitude itself seems out of date at a time when so many people feel ‘entitled’ to whatever they get- and indignant that they didn’t get more.”
On Washington’s slow nature:
“Someone said that Congress would take 30 days to make instant coffee.”
On ‘basic rights’:
“The old adage about giving a man a fish versus teaching him how to fish has been updated by a reader: Give a man a fish and he will ask for tartar sauce and French fries! Moreover, some politician who wants his vote will declare all these things to be among his ‘basic rights.'”
On greed:
“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.”
On socialism:
“Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export…. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea — in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders.”
On socialism (again):
“Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.”
On ideas:
“Some ideas sound so plausible that they can fail nine times in a row and still be believed the tenth time. Other ideas sound so implausible that they can succeed nine times in a row and still not be believed the tenth time. Government controls in the economy are mong the first kinds of ideas and the operations of a free market are among the second kind.”
On entitlements:
“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.”
On minimum wage:
“Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force. Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker’s productivity worth that amount—and, if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed.”
On lying:
“If it were possible to enforce a ban on lying, a ghastly silence would fall over the city of Washington.”
On ideology:
“Ideology is fairy tales for adults.”
On price controls:
“Price controls almost invariably produce black markets, where prices are not only higher than the legally permitted prices, but also higher than they would be in a free market, since the legal risks must also be compensated. While small-scale black markets may function in secrecy, large-scale black markets usually require bribes to officials to look the other way.”
On politicians as liars:
“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.”
On capitalists vs. intellectuals:
“It was Thomas Edison who brought us electricity, not the Sierra Club. It was the Wright brothers who got us off the ground, not the Federal Aviation Administration. It was Henry Ford who ended the isolation of millions of Americans by making the automobile affordable, not Ralph Nader. Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing ‘compassion’ for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about.”
On envy:
“Envy plus rhetoric equals ‘socialist justice.'”
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