Thomas Sowell on Humility & Skepticism

Seven quotes about human nature, ideology, and the disastrous consequences of self-deception.

In his twenties, Thomas Sowell described himself as a Marxist, but after he began a critical examination of various components of his own ideology, he ended up losing faith in socialism. Since then, he has written over 45 books on political, economic, and cultural issues and wrote a weekly syndicated column that at one point was published in over 150 newspapers. Sowell graduated from Harvard University in 1958, and a decade later received a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. This past June he celebrated his 94th birthday.

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1. “What can we be certain of from history? That human beings have been wrong innumerable times, by vast amounts, and with catastrophic results. Yet today there are still people who think that anyone who disagrees with them must be either bad or not know what he is talking about…Students can graduate from even the most prestigious colleges and universities wholly unaware that there are not simply different opinions about particular issues but a whole comprehensive framework of ideas and analysis through which those issues can be seen in a way that leads to very different conclusions from the ones their professors have taught or insinuated…It is a shame that ancient history is seldom taught in our schools. Finding out that people thousands of years ago were basically pretty much the way they are today — people of every race, color, creed, national origin, political ideology and sexual orientation—would reduce our chances of having Utopian hopes for big changes any time soon.”¹

2. “Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.”²

3. “Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly—and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.”³

4. “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.”⁴

5. “More frightening than any particular beliefs or policies is an utter lack of any sense of a need to test those beliefs and policies against hard evidence. Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention to facts, but dogmatism will not be corrected by those who are wedded to a vision.”⁵

6. “[I]t is not merely that Johnny can't read, or even that Johnny can't think. Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is, because thinking is so often confused with feeling…The phrase ‘I feel’ is often used by American students to introduce a conclusion, rather than say ‘I think,’ or ‘I know,’ much less ‘I conclude.’ Unfortunately, ‘I feel’ is often the most accurate term…”⁶

7. “The Constitution of the United States, with its elaborate checks and balances, clearly reflected the view that no one was ever to be completely trusted with power. This was in sharp contrast to the French Revolution, which gave sweeping powers, including the power of life and death, to those who spoke in the name of “the people,” expressing the Rousseauean “general will.” Even when bitterly disappointed with particular leaders, who were then deposed and executed, believers in this vision did not substantially change their political systems or beliefs, viewing the evil as localized in individuals who had betrayed the revolution…To the Federalists, the evil was inherent in man, and institutions were simply ways of trying to cope with it.”⁷

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FOR FURTHER STUDY

Articles
The Tower of Babel, Shane Rosenthal
Liberalism or Christianity?, J. Gresham Machen
Discovering Thomas Sowell, Stefan Imhoff
Thomas Sowell on the Trouble with Social Justice, Jason L. Riley
Encountering Thomas Sowell, Thomas Chatterton Williams

Books
A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, Thomas Sowell
Economic Facts & Fallacies, Thomas Sowell
The Quest for Cosmic Justice, Thomas Sowell
Social Justice Fallacies, Thomas Sowell
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell, Jason L. Riley

Audio & Video
The Woke Revolution, Humble Skeptic #34 with Os Guinness
Live Not By Lies, Humble Skeptic #35 with Rod Dreher
The Intersection Between Church & State, Humble Skeptic #53 with David Van Drunen
The Political Implications of Original Sin, WHI #1597 with Michael McClymond
Thomas Sowell on the Myths of Economic Inequalities, Uncommon Knowledge
Consequences Matter, Thomas Sowell on Social Justice Fallacies, Uncommon Knowledge

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1. Thomas Sowell, “Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene” (from his syndicated column published Sept. 22, 2005). You can find it online here.

2. Thomas Sowell, Dismantling America (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 338.

3. Thomas Sowell, Economic Facts & Fallacies (New York: Basic Books, 2007, 2011), vii.

4. Cited by Jason L. Riley, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell (New York: Basic Books, 2021), 171.

5. Thomas Sowell, “Liberal or conservative? The myths and facts,” (from his syndicated column published Nov. 22, 2006). You can find it online here.

6. Thomas Sowell, Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas (New York, The Free Press, 1993), 4-5.

7. Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles (New York: Basic Books, 1987). This quote appears on pages 25-26 of the 2007 revised edition.