QuoteProject
One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.
Thomas Sowell
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Honorable individuals often underestimate the capacity for dishonor in others, which can lead to dangerous consequences.

In this quote, Thomas Sowell highlights a critical flaw found in many honorable individuals: their inability to recognize the level of dishonor that exists in others. This misjudgment can lead to misplaced trust and potentially perilous situations, emphasizing the need for awareness and discernment in relationships and interactions with others.

Themes

HonorTrustDishonorDangerRelationships

In practice

Example use cases

During a leadership seminar to emphasize the need for caution in trusting others, I shared this quote.

More from Thomas Sowell

Stopping illegal immigration would mean that wages would have to rise to a level where Americans would want the jobs currently taken by illegal aliens.
Thomas SowellRead
Blacks were not enslaved because they were black but because they were available. Slavery has existed in the world for thousands of years. Whites enslaved other whites in Europe for centuries before the first black was brought to the Western hemisphere. Asians enslaved Europeans. Asians enslaved other Asians. Africans enslaved other Africans, and indeed even today in North Africa, blacks continue to enslave blacks.
Thomas SowellRead
One of the reasons for conspiracy theories is an assumption that people in high places always know what they are doing. When they do something that makes no sense, devious reasons are imagined by conspiracy theorists, when in fact it may be due to plain old ignorance and incompetence.
Thomas SowellRead
You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.
Thomas SowellRead
The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too committed to a vision to allow mere facts to interfere with their beliefs, and the sense of superiority that those beliefs give them.
Thomas SowellRead
Why is history important? Without history, many people have no idea how many of today's half-baked ideas have been tried, again and again - and have repeatedly led to disaster. Most of these ideas are not new. They are just being recycled with re-treaded rhetoric.
Thomas SowellRead

Similar quotes

The greatest obstacle to pleasure is not pain; it is delusion.
Stephen GreenblattRead
The means that make one qualified for enquiry are meditation, yoga, etc. One should gain proficiency in these through graded practice and thus secure a stream of mental modes that is natural and helpful.
Ramana MaharshiRead
Don't be obsessed with tactics but with purpose. Tactics have a half life.
Noam ChomskyRead
Meditation cannot be taught, it can only be caught. I am meditation. If you are available you can catch it.
RajneeshRead
I try not to think about anything special while running. As a matter of fact, I usually run with my mind empty. However, when I run empty-minded, something naturally and abruptly crawls in sometime. That might become an idea that can help me with my writing.
Haruki MurakamiRead
Humility is a flower which does not grow in everyone's garden.
AristotleRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.