Quotes by Thomas Sowell
Equality of outcome is a mirage; equality of opportunity, a challenge.
Egalitarianism is the ideology, while envy is the emotion.
We should judge ideas by their consequences, not their intentions.
It's not what you don't know that hurts you; it's what you *think* you know that ain't so.
Policies should be judged by their consequences, not their stated intentions.
When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.
Intellect is not wisdom. Intellect is a tool; wisdom is how it's used.
It is easier to denounce problems than to propose solutions. The latter requires thinking.
Intellect is not wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the limits of intellect.
The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.
Progress is not inevitable. It requires vigilance and a willingness to challenge assumptions.
Some of the biggest problems are created by solutions.
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.
It is not ignorance that breeds confidence; it is the absence of knowledge of your own ignorance.
People who pride themselves on their 'open-mindedness' are often simply empty-minded.
The most benevolent of intentions can pave the road to hell if divorced from reality.
Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention... or made worse by those who don't.
Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.
Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention... But not by those who pay attention to polls.
Some people seem to think that the way to advance equality is to put everyone on the same level, regardless of their individual talents or efforts.
The problem isn't that people are ignorant. It's that they know so much that isn't so.
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.
The real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of what the law says.
The most dangerous phrase in the language is, 'We've always done it this way.'
The question isn't who is to blame, but what needs to be done.
Feelings are real, but their interpretations are not always accurate.
The most dangerous ignorance is ignorance of your own ignorance.
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.
The vision of a planned world inevitably degenerates into a nightmare.
Failure is a detour, not a dead end.