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Quotes from Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays — Thomas Sowell

born 1930 United States

← All quotes by Thomas Sowell

14 quotes

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)

When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

If you don't believe in the innate unreasonableness of human beings, just try raising children.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

People who pride themselves on their "complexity" and deride others for being "simplistic" should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

People who talk incessantly about "change" are often dogmatically set in their ways. They want to change other people.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Time was when people used to brag about how old they were -- and I am old enough to remember it.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Some of the people on death row today might not be there if the courts had not been so lenient on them when they were first offenders.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Most problems do not get solved. They get superseded by other concerns.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

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.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

History shows that degeneracy can be turned around because it has been done in the past. But the real question today is: Will we turn it around-or is what we are doing likely to make matters worse?

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Letters from teachers continue to confirm the incompetence which they deny. A teacher in Montana says that my criticisms of teachers are "nieve." No, that wasn't a typographical error. He spelled it that way twice.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

One of the most ridiculous defenses of foreign aid is that it is a very small part of our national income. If the average American set fire to a five-dollar bill, it would be an even smaller percentage of his annual income. But everyone would consider him foolish for doing it.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Many of the dangerous things that drivers do are not likely to save them even 10 seconds. When you bet your life against 10 seconds, that is giving bigger odds than you are ever likely to get in Las Vegas.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Maturity is not a matter of age. You have matured when you are no longer concerned with showing how clever you are, and give your full attention to getting the job done right. Many never reach that stage, no matter how old they get.

Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Sowell (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.