Thomas Sowell Quotes

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.

Arguments are to be avoided: they are always vulgar and often convincing.

People learn the most about themselves by confronting those with whom they deeply disagree..

Reasonable people can have differences.

It's a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with.

Confrontation is something that I accept as part of the project though not its purpose.

I love having debates with people when they are debates but some people, you just can't. Some people shouldn't be given the oxygen.

Sure, I've met with people I don't agree with.

No matter what side of an argument you're on, you always find some people on your side that wish you were on the other side.

Our civilization is becoming less civil. You don’t have the right to demonize somebody just because they disagree with you.

Hold on. It’s not a fight. It’s a discussion.

If we can’t agree on the facts, how can we agree on the solutions?

The great enemy of knowledge is not error, but inertness. All that we want is discussion; and then we are sure to do well, no matter what our blunders may be. One error conflicts with another, each destroys its opponent, and truth is evolved.

I don't have to agree with everything you say, but I should attempt at least to understand it, for the opposite of mutual understanding is, quite simply, war.

... The person who, at any stage of a conversation, disagrees, should at least hope to reach agreement in the end. He should be as much prepared to have his own mind changed as seek to change the mind of another ... No one who looks upon disagreement as an occasion for teaching another should forget that it is also an occasion for being taught.

When people disagreed with him he urged them to be objective.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

You can tell if someone is about social intercourse or just about browbeating somebody with their opinion. It's no fun arguing with a closed-minded person.

Debate is so much better than denial.

The brave view is that talking it out helps work it out. Maybe the realistic view is that talking it out inflames the issues further. But that is America, especially these days.

Victor and vanquished never unite in substantial agreement.

There are two types of people: those who try to win and those who try to win arguments. They are never the same.

I love having that creative discussion where, at the end of the day, you both feel better for having done it. Maybe it's a typically Jewish thing, where you sort of go at each other.

I just don't believe that you have to come in and insult people when you want to change things.

I've been approached after shows from people who said, 'I don't agree with anything you said, but I laughed the whole way through.' That's still a little strange to me. Like, nothing, really? But at the same time, that's what happens in a conversation.