Who is Thomas Sowell? He is a distinguished economist, former Marxist (before he figured out it would never work), and Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.

I've read a couple of his books on economics and found them to be very informative and well written. He's written quite a lot over the years. This link is to a large collection of quotable nuggets from his various writings.

https://www.goodreads.com/auth...Thomas_Sowell?page=1

It's hard for me to choose a favorite since there are so many that hit home depending on the topic. I was thinking about all the social justice/PC stuff going around and it made me search out this one:

“Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.”
― Thomas Sowell

What's your favorite?

Rob

He's my hero and there are dozens of wonderful quotes, but this one will do:

"Those who want to "spread the wealth" almost invariably seek to concentrate the power. It happens too often, and in too many different countries around the world, to be a coincidence. Which is more dangerous, inequalities of wealth or concentrations of power?"

I had a cork board by my desk at work. This Sowell quote was in front of me every day.

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.

I was just looking for this quote the other day and could not find it, so it may not be 100% accurate wording, but it went something like:

Often people who are protected from dangers conclude that there are no dangers.

I wish I could find it again to quote it correctly. But I think about it a lot.

This is one I recorded:
“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.”

Like Jim I've been following & reading Mr. Sowell's books on & off for years. Maybe one day I'll complete the journey. As for a favorite quote? I can honestly say all of his quotes are favorites to me.

He has so many great ones, it is hard to single just one out, I could put 5 - but per your rules.

“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.”

quote:

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.

That's the first one I thought of. It reminds me, in particular, of a boss I once had who crumpled up a piece of paper, called it "the ball" and passed it around to everyone, to be caught, run with or dropped. That was the beginning of the end for me and that job.

"No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems — of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind."

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. - Thomas Sowell

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:
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. - Thomas Sowell

^^^This. Simply blunt and brilliant.