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161 " Moreover, even in the absence of accumulating personal experience, it was difficult to believe that soaring murder statistics reflected simply better record keeping, since it had always been hard to ignore a dead body. "
― Thomas Sowell , The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
162 " Japan, newly emerging on the world scene in the late nineteenth century, sought its science and engineering in Scotland. "
― Thomas Sowell , Conquests and Cultures: An International History
163 " opportunity alone is not sufficient for economic or other accomplishments. "
164 " As George J. Stigler said of some of his fellow Nobel Laureates, they “issue stern ultimata to the public on almost a monthly basis, and sometimes on no other basis. "
― Thomas Sowell , Intellectuals and Society
165 " The vision of the anointed is one in which ills as poverty, irresponsible sex, and crime derive primarily from ‘society,’ rather than from individual choices and behavior. To believe in personal responsibility would be to destroy the whole special role of the anointed, whose vision casts them in the role of rescuers of people treated unfairly by ‘society. "
166 " In short, some of the least qualified students, taught by the least qualified professors in the lowest quality courses supply most American public school teachers. "
― Thomas Sowell , Inside American Education
167 " Among the precepts that Andrew Jackson's mother taught him were never to sue anybody for slander or for assault and battery: "Always settle them cases yourself. "
168 " Cultural differences are real, and cannot be talked away by using pejorative terms such as “stereotypes” or “racism. "
― Thomas Sowell , Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality
169 " The crucial question is not whether evils exist but whether the evils of the past or present are automatically the cause of major economic, educational and other social disparities today. The bedrock assumption underlying many political or ideological crusades is that socioeconomic disparities are automatically somebody's fault, so that our choices are either to blame society or to 'blame the victim.' Yet whose fault are demographic differences, geographic differences, birth order differences or cultural differences that evolved over the centuries before any of us were born? "
― Thomas Sowell , Discrimination and Disparities
170 " Nothing is more complex than avoiding the obvious "
― Thomas Sowell ,
171 " That some leader dangerous to the basic institutions of American society would arise, Lincoln thought inevitable. Safeguarding these institutions would require a public sufficiently united, sufficiently attached to freedom, and sufficiently wise, "to successfully frustrate his designs." Today it would also require a public sufficiently resistant to incessant criticisms and condemnations of their society for failing to achieve cosmic justice. Moreover, if the dangers in our own times were limited to those of "towering genius," there would be much less danger than there is. However, all that is needed are towering presumptions, which are increasingly mass-produced in our schools and colleges by the educational vogue of encouraging immature and inexperienced students to sit in emotional judgment on the complex evolution of whole ages and vast civilizations. "
― Thomas Sowell , The Quest for Cosmic Justice
172 " Engels said: “what each individual wills is obstructed by everyone else, and what emerges is something that no one willed. "
173 " In its pursuit of justice for a segment of society, in disregard of the consequences for society as a whole, what is called “social justice” might more accurately be called anti-social justice, since what consistently gets ignored or dismissed are precisely the costs to society. "
174 " Just as price fluctuations allocate scarce resources which have alternative uses, price controls which limit those fluctuations reduce the incentives for individuals to limit their own use of scarce resources desired by others. "
― Thomas Sowell , Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
175 " Piketty’s crucial misstep is verbally converting a fluid process over time into a rigid structure, with a more or less permanent top one percent living isolated from the rest of society that is supposedly subjected to their control or influence. It is a vision divorced from demonstrable facts, however consonant it may be with prevailing preconceptions. "
― Thomas Sowell , Wealth, Poverty and Politics: An International Perspective
176 " In short, rent control reduces the rate of housing turnover. "
177 " The intelligentsia in the media can decide what to emphasize, what to downplay and what to ignore entirely when it comes to race. These may be individual choices, rather than a conspiracy, but individual choices growing out of a common vision of the world can produce results all too similar to what is produced by centralized censorship or propaganda. "
― Thomas Sowell , Intellectuals and Race
178 " Geography is not egalitarian. "
179 " More to the point, if he did cancel the tour in order to fight that tax, would we regard him as a rational man of high principle or as a doctrinaire, a moral exhibitionist, or an egomaniac "
180 " The remarkable reversal of public attitudes toward the Japanese over the years -- especially in Australia, Peru and the United States -- suggests that behavior and performance are more effective ways of changing other people's minds than moral crusades or emotional denunciations. "
― Thomas Sowell , Migrations and Cultures: A World View