Thomas Sowell ( 10 of 95 )
It's amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.
It's amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.
People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.
People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.
Civilization is an enormous device for economizing knowledge,.
Civilization is an enormous device for economizing knowledge,.
The more adaptability exists for a given kind of decision, the less risky it is to make plans for the read more
The more adaptability exists for a given kind of decision, the less risky it is to make plans for the future, and therefore the more likely it is that more people will make more plans in such areas.
The principles applied in economic processes are general social principles.
The principles applied in economic processes are general social principles.
We should listen first and foremost to our own experience...We should stop looking for saviors... Society has not existed for read more
We should listen first and foremost to our own experience...We should stop looking for saviors... Society has not existed for thousands of years because it had a succession of saviors. It's existed because it has institutions and processes through which people can realize their own goals.
Social values in general are incrementally variable: neither safety, diversity, rational articulation, nor morality is categorically a "good thing" to read more
Social values in general are incrementally variable: neither safety, diversity, rational articulation, nor morality is categorically a "good thing" to have more of, without limits. All are subject to diminishing returns, and ultimately negative returns.
Considering the enormous range of human knowledge, from intimate personal knowledge of specific individuals to the complexities of organizations and read more
Considering the enormous range of human knowledge, from intimate personal knowledge of specific individuals to the complexities of organizations and the subtleties of feelings, it is remarkable that one speck in this firmament should be the sole determinant of whether someone is considered knowledgeable or ignorant in general. Yet it is a fact of life that an unlettered person is considered ignorant, however much he may know about nature and man, and a Ph.D. is never considered ignorant, however barren his mind might be outside his narrow specialty and however little he grasps about human feeling or social complexities.
Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information read more
Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated.
To say that a farm boy knows how to milk a cow is to say that we can send him read more
To say that a farm boy knows how to milk a cow is to say that we can send him out to the barn with an empty pail and expect him to return with milk. To say that a criminologist understands crime is not to say that we can send him out with a grant or a law and expect him to return with a lower crime rate. He is more likely to return with a report on why he has not succeeded yet, and including the inevitable need for more money, a larger staff, more sweeping powers, etc.
