Thomas Sowell Quotes

Things are simple, it is us human beings that make it difficult.

When I asked my mother, ‘how do I tell people about you’ her answer was ‘tell the truth’. But of course, the truth is never simple.

Science is always simple and always profound. It is only the half-truths that are dangerous.

Some people demand a five-line capsule summary. Something you'd read in a magazine. They want you to say, 'This is the story of the duality of man and the duplicity of governments.' I hear people try to do it -- give the five-line summary -- but if a film has any substance or subtlety, whatever you say is never complete, it's usually wrong, and it's necessarily simplistic: truth is too multifaceted to be contained in a five-line summary. If the work is good, what you say about it is usually irrelevant.

Obviousness is always the enemy of correctness.

More often than not, things and people are as they appear.

Man must learn to simplify, but not to the point of falsification.

You don't have to make things harder then they have to be just to prove a point.

The nature of oratory is such that there has always been a tendency among politicians and clergymen to oversimplify complex matters. From a pulpit or a platform even the most conscientious of speakers finds it very difficult to tell the whole truth.

My love of dynamic complications often led me to avoid simplicity when perhaps it was the wisest choice.

I was raised by and have raised people who regard telling one story when two would do as a sign someone is not really trying.

There is truth and then again there is truth. For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies.

You can cram a truth into an epigram - the truth, never.

Some people are proud of their humility.

Making the simple complicated is commonplace.

There are some people, who I'll charitably call snobs, who are dismissive of any conversation that doesn't begin with the full level of complexity. That's just not how the world works.

If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.

In most cases, people, even wicked people, are far more naive and simple-hearted than one generally assumes. And so are we.

What is simple is wrong, and what is complicated cannot be understood.

Pride blinds people to the truth of what they are.

Do not be alarmed by simplification, complexity is often a device for claiming sophistication, or for evading simple truths.

Behold the power of the truth. When people see its shadow on the wall, they don't want to take the time to look away.

Truth is too simple for us: we do not like those who unmask our illusions.

And simple truth miscalled simplicity

Lying is too much trouble. You have to make sure to taste each word before letting it off your tongue. I hate that. It's hard enough making people understand without lying.