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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 Is Reality Optional? (1993)

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More quotes by Thomas Sowell

Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.

Knowledge and Decisions (1980)

If there is one thing that is bipartisan in Washington, it is brazen hypocrisy.

Ideas are everywhere, but knowledge is rare.

Knowledge and Decisions (1980)

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.

Racism has never done this country any good, and it needs to be fought against, not put under new management for different groups.

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Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

Albert Einstein

Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

Mao Zedong

Three-fourths of the Italian economy, industrial and agricultural, is in the hands of the state.

Benito Mussolini

Fear and destructiveness are the major emotional sources of fascism, eros belongs mainly to democracy.

Theodor Adorno The Authoritarian Personality (1950)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Sowell (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.