Considered a national treasure and one of the best thinkers of his time, Thomas Sowell shows no sign of slowing down. At ninety three years old, he recently released his latest book entitled, “Social Justice Fallacies.” And to honor his massive contribution to literature and society, we’ve curated the best Thomas Sowell quotes on social justice below.
Who is Thomas Sowell?
Born on June 30, 1930, Thomas Sowell continues to live a full life with an impressive collection of accomplishments under his belt.
More than a best-selling author, he is a respected economist and social commentator who studied under the mentorship of Milton Friedman. He is well-known for his conservative and libertarian views on economics, race and politics. He is also a prolific debater and speaker. If you’ve seen his videos when he was younger, you’d understand why he is held in such high esteem in the United States.
Thomas Sowell studied in Harvard University for his Bachelor’s degree and in Columbia University for his master’s degree in economics. Later on, he completed his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. He’s written a number of best-selling books tackling important topics including economics, race, social justice and culture.
With Sowell’s insightful view of social issues and expertise in economics, his work continues to be influential among scholars and conservatives today.
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Best Thomas Sowell Quotes on Social Justice
Throughout the years, Sowell’s views highlight the importance of free market and individual responsibility. On one hand, he has expressed criticisms on social justice particularly in certain approaches because it potentially violates another person’s freedom.
Here’s a collection of the best Thomas Sowell quotes on the topic of social justice:
1. “A society that puts equality—in the sense of equality of outcome—ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests.”
2. “Envy was once considered to be one of the seven deadly sins before it became one of the most admired virtues under its new name, ‘social justice’.
3. “Justice at all costs’ is not justice.”
4. “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.”
5. “What do you call it when someone steals someone else’s money secretly? Theft. What do you call it when someone takes someone else’s money openly by force? Robbery. What do you call it when a politician takes someone else’s money in taxes and gives it to someone who is more likely to vote for him? Social Justice.”
6. “The question is not what anybody deserves. The question is who is to take on the God-like role of deciding what everybody else deserves. You can talk about ‘social justice’ all you want. But what death taxes boil down to is letting politicians take money from widows and orphans to pay for goodies that they will hand out to others, in order to buy votes to get re-elected. That is not social justice or any other kind of justice.”
7. “A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for knowing what the hell you’re talking about.”
8. “So many idealistic political movements for a better world have ended in mass-murdering dictatorships. Giving leaders enough power to create ‘social justice’ is giving them enough power to destroy all justice, all freedom, and all human dignity.”
9. “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?”
10. “Envy plus rhetoric equals ‘social justice.’”
11. “All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?”
12. “What does ‘economic justice’ mean, except that you want something that someone else produced, without having to produce anything yourself in return?”
13. “The word ‘justice’ is often used loosely to mean a need or desire, such as ‘a just wage’ or ‘a just society.’ But that is not the same as justice in the sense of a universal and impartial process of determining claims and meting out punishment or rewards.”
14. “Social justice” is one of the most seductive and dangerous of these notions. Not only do the advocates of such notions tend to have more fervor than wisdom, the very ideal of social justice is seldom clearly defined.”
15. “Social justice warriors can talk about diversity all they want, but when it comes to diversity of ideas, they seem as monolithic as any old bunch of Stalinists ever were.”
16. “One of the consequences of such notions as ‘entitlements’ is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.”
Having been around for more than 90 years, Sowell has a well of wisdom we should all learn from. And these selection of the best Thomas Sowell quotes offer us a glimpse of his complex and profound perspective on important subjects such as social justice.
Famous Thomas Sowell Books
Here are some of Thomas Sowell’s best books in order they were published if you want to learn more:
- Race and Culture – 1994
- The Quest for Cosmic Justice – 1996
- Conquests and Cultures – 1998
- Basic Economics – 2000
- Affirmative Action Around the World – 2004
- Black Rednecks and White Liberals – 2005
- Economic Facts and Fallacies – 2007
- Intellectuals and Society – 2009
- Wealth, Poverty and Politics – 2015
- Discrimination and Disparities – 2018
- Charter Schools and Their Enemies – 2020
- Social Justice Fallacies – 2023
Social Justice Fallacies Interview
While the best Thomas Sowell quotes are already thought-provoking in themselves, this recent interview will make you dig deeper into the topic of social justice.
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