quote · Legacy record
It was Thomas Edison who brought us electricity, not the Sierra Club. It was the Wright brothers who got us off the ground, not the Federal Aviation Administration. It was Henry Ford who ended the isolation of millions of Americans by making the automobile affordable, not Ralph Nader. Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing 'compassion' for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about.
It was Thomas Edison who brought us electricity, not the Sierra Club. It was the Wright brothers who got us off the ground, not the Federal Aviation Administration. It was Henry Ford who ended the isolation of millions of Americans by making the automobile affordable, not Ralph Nader. Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing 'compassion' for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about.
Approximate author period: c. 1930 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Thomas Sowell
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1930 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1930; activity date not established; Wikidata Q553449, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q553449 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 261878; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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