Charles Murray, Coming Apart: The State Of White America, 1960-2010 Quotes

Regardless of whether people have free will, human flourishing requires that they live in an environment in which they are treated as if they did.

The percentage of people qualifying for federal disability benefits because they are unable to work rose from 0.7 percent of the size of the labor force in 1960 to 5.3% in 2010.

The human impulse behind the isolation of class is as basic as impulses get: People like to be around other people who understand them and to whom they can talk.

They don't know the distinction between taking care of a child and raising a child.

The average Harvard freshman in 1952 would have placed in the bottom 10 percent of the incoming class by 1960.

Data can bear on policy issues, but many of our opinions about policy are grounded in premises about the nature of human life and human society that are beyond the reach of data.

Responsibility for the consequences of actions is not the price of freedom, but one of its rewards.

paying taxes is a cheap price for a quiet conscience—much cheaper than actually having to get involved in the lives of their fellow citizens.