Thomas Sowell Quotes

The problem with a purely collective system is not only that it requires economic growth, and the right sort of demographic trends, but that it prevents people thinking about their futures in a responsible way.

It is one of my pet hates when I see players who have agents who do everything for them. They don't know how to set up their own bank accounts, they don't know what they are spending their money on and they can't make their own decisions.

If you come to our country, don't expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge.

There are some parents who have really done it right and told their kid, 'You know, we have this dough, none of this is for you. You have to get your own.'

I'm not a trust-fund child. I think my father's got a healthy work ethic, and therefore, I think it just came with the part. You've got to look after yourself.

Some people feel that the world owes them a living.

I don't like a lot of social programs either because it makes you non-productive.

Dependency is death to initiative, to risk-taking and opportunity. It's time to stop the spread of government dependency and fight it like the poison it is.

I think my mom and dad both wanted to get across to me that... I obviously grew up with great privilege and was very lucky and was able to afford college and not have student loans, and they would pay for college, but beyond that, it would be up to me to make a living.

Sometimes well-intentioned programs can lead to dependency and cause us to forget we have what it takes to attain the American dream.

I paid my own bills even when I was married and my husband could have easily paid them.

Personal accountability and responsibility is dying. Long live the Democrat welfare state.

Freedom conceives that the mind and spirit of man can be free only if he be free to pattern his own life, to develop his own talents, free to earn, to spend, to save, to acquire property as the security of his old age and his family.

Maine's welfare program is cannibalizing the rest of state government. To all you able-bodied people out there: Get off the couch and get yourself a job.

I was born to sell it as a kid. I think it's partially innate, and partly it's because my parents were always very clear: if I needed anything that wasn't a necessity, I was going to have to save my money and buy it myself. That meant not only did I have to buy basketball shoes, but I had to figure out how to pay for college as well.

When our family business separation was implemented, as the eldest member of the family, I had taken the entire burden of the debts. I believe, it was my mistake to have told myself that, 'Subhash, you can earn and repay the creditors.'

My parents didn't have much money growing up, but they always had a budget for books.

Too often, while well-intentioned, our poverty programs fail the poor. They fail them by keeping them in cycles of dependency.

I think most Americans believe in a basic social safety net.

Because I was given everything I didn't know the value of money. My dad always bailed me out.

I buy whatever I need and want for myself.

People used to call me for donations, and I couldn't relate to that because I have spent most of my life trying to support myself.

I never borrowed money from Mom. I lived at home, but my parents never helped me. I worked hard and moved out. I treated my blog like a business; hard work is important.

I don't want to end up being dependent on anyone.

The original purpose of the welfare state was to lift people into self-sufficiency, not to create a permanent underclass dependent on taxpayers.