95 quotes
A cosmic injustice is not a social injustice.
Intellectuals and Race (2013)
Unfortunately, he was not, so a phone call was made to a local hospital to send an ambulance.
A Personal Odyssey (2000)
I'm always embarrassed when people say that I'm courageous. Soldiers are courageous. Policemen are courageous. Firemen are courageous. I just have a thick hide and disregard what silly people say.
One of the grand fallacies of our time is that something beneficial should be subsidized.
Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays (1987)
Although I am ready to defend what I have said, many people expect me to defend what others have attributed to me.
The key feature of Communist propaganda has been the depiction of people who are more productive as mere exploiters of others.
Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays (1987)
Intellectuals may like to think of themselves as people who "speak truth to power" but too often they are people who speak lies to gain power.
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?
Dismantling America and Other Controversial Essays (2011)
If I could offer one piece of advice to young people thinking about their future, it would be this: Don't preconceive. Find out what the opportunities are.
Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)
The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite.
Key indicators require some specified time span during which they are to be tabulated for purposes of reward or penalty. The time span can vary enormously according to the process and the indicator.
Knowledge and Decisions (1980)
Too many Republicans treat English as a second language, with Beltway lingo being their native tongue.
The case for the political left looks more plausible on the surface but is harder to keep believing in as you become more experienced.
Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays (1987)
People who think that they are being "exploited" should ask themselves whether they would be missed if they left, or whether people would say: "Good riddance"?
Some of the most vocal critics of the way things are being done are people who have done nothing themselves, and whose only contributions to society are their complaints and moral exhibitionism.
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.
Is Reality Optional? (1993)
The biggest myth about labor unions is that unions are for the workers. Unions are for unions, just as corporations are for corporations and politicians are for politicians.
Few of the great tragedies of history were created by the village idiot, and many by the village genius.
The greatness of a free-market economy is that it does not depend upon the wisdom of those who happen to be on top at the moment.
Socialism sounds great. It has always sounded great. And it will probably always continue to sound great. It is only when you go beyond rhetoric, and start looking at hard facts, that socialism turns out to be a big disappointment, if not a disaster.