Sydney J. Harris Quotes - Page 5

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• Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs there.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Philosophy, Discovery, Ethics

  11 Copy quote

• The difference between faith and superstition is that the first uses reason to go as far as it can, and then makes the jump; the second shuns reason entirely — which is why superstition is not the ally, but the enemy, of true religion.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Differences, Enemy, Allies

  Sydney J. Harris (1953). “Strictly personal”

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• What the ordinary person means by a 'miracle' is some gross distortion or suspension of the laws of nature... but life itself strikes him as commonplace, when in truth a blade of grass or a neuron in the brain is a greater miracle.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Mean, Law, Miracle

  Sydney J. Harris (1976). “Best of Sydney J. Harris”

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• Character is something you forge for yourself; temperament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Character, Born, Temperament

  Sydney J. Harris (1986). “Clearing the ground”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• It's odd, and a little unsettling, to reflect upon the fact that English is the only major language in which "I" is capitalized; in many other languages "You" is capitalized and the "i" is lower case." --

  Sydney J. Harris

  Littles, Facts, Language

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• Take away grievances from some people and you remove their reasons for living; most of us are nourished by hope, but a considerable minority get psychic nutrition from their resentments, and would waste away purposelessly without them.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Psychics, People, Minorities

  Sydney J. Harris (1976). “Best of Sydney J. Harris”

  6 Copy quote

• Real loneliness consists not in being alone, but in being with the wrong person, in the suffocating darkness of a room in which no deep communication is possible.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Real, Loneliness, Communication

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• Why are we willing to accept a new mathematical formula we don't understand as the product of a brilliant mind, while rejecting a new art form we don't understand as the product of a deranged mind?

  Sydney J. Harris

  Art, Mind, Brilliant

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• Ancient boundaries are meaningless, except for political purposes; old divisions of clan and tribe are sentimental remnants of the pre-atomic age; neither creed nor color nor place of origin is relevant to the realities of modern power to utterly seek and destroy.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Reality, Color, Political

  Sydney J. Harris (1976). “Best of Sydney J. Harris”

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• A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Forgiveness, Forgiving, Loser

  Sydney J. Harris (1964). “Leaving the Surface”

  25 Copy quote

• Much as a teacher may wince at the thought, he is also an entertainer—for unless he can hold his audience, he cannot really instruct or edify them.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Teacher, May, Wince

  Sydney J. Harris (1976). “Best of Sydney J. Harris”

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• The reason that truth is stranger than fiction is that fiction has to have a rational thread running through it in order to be believable, whereas reality may be totally irrational.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Running, Truth, Honesty

  Sydney J. Harris (1986). “Clearing the ground”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  14 Copy quote

• Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.

  Sydney J. Harris

  War, Unique, Men

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• Parents - and teachers too - are woefully short-sighted when they try to protect the child from his mistakes, when they make the "right answer" more important than the quest for knowledge and good judgment. For what is not learned within one's self cannot be learned from another.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Teacher, Children, Mistake

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• It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest', but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Country, Greatness, Patriotism

  Sydney J. Harris (1985). “Pieces of Eight Pa”, Mariner Books

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• Those obsessed with health are not healthy; the first requisite of good health is a certain calculated carelessness about oneself.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Healthy, Firsts, Care

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• The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one's mind a pleasant place in which to spend one's leisure.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Education, College, Mind

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• All our efforts to attain immortality-by statesmanship, by conquest, by science or the arts-are equally vain in the long run, because the long run is longer than any of us can imagine.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Running, Art, Long

  Sydney J. Harris (1986). “Clearing the ground”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• A person is either himself or not himself; is either rooted in his existence or is a fabrication; has either found his humanhood or is still playing with masks and roles and status symbols. And nobody is more aware of this difference (although unconsciously) than a child. Only an authentic person can evoke a good response in the core of the other person; only person is resonant to person.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Children, Differences, Roles

  Sydney J. Harris (1976). “Best of Sydney J. Harris”

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• The main discomfort in being a middle-of-the-roader is that you get sideswiped by partisans going in both directions.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Middle, Discomfort, Partisans

  Sydney J. Harris (1972). “For the Time Being”

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• The world has always been betrayed by decent men with bad ideals.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Men, World, Betrayed

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• Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Ignorance, Dangerous

  Sydney J. Harris (1982). “Pieces of Eight”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• More trouble is caused in this world by indiscreet answers than by indiscreet questions.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Answers, World, Trouble

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• The loner may be respected, but he is always resented by his colleagues, for he seems to be passing a critical judgment on them, when he may be simply making a limiting statement about himself.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Solitude, Loner, May

  Sydney J. Harris (1986). “Clearing the ground”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Being yourself is not remaining what you were, or being satisfied with what you are. It is the point of departure and far from the goal.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Being Yourself, Departure, Where You Are

  "Clearing the ground".

  13 Copy quote

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