A ‘penchant for telling the truth’ can cripple a candidates chances faster than being caught in flagrante delicto with the governor’s wife.
SYDNEY J. HARRISPeople decline invitations when they are “indisposed” physically, and I wish they would do likewise when they feel indisposed emotionally. A person has no more right to attend a party with a head full of venom than with a throat full of virus.
More Sydney J. Harris Quotes
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Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting.
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The greatest educational dogma is also its greatest fallacy: the belief that what must be learned can necessarily be taught.
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The pessimist sees only the tunnel; the optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel; the realist sees the tunnel and the light – and the next tunnel.
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The severest test of character is not so much the ability to keep a secret as it is, when the secret is finally out, to refrain from disclosing that you knew it all along.
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Man’s unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.
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Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues.
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Many married couples separate because they quarrel incessantly, but just as many separate because they were never honest enough or courageous enough to quarrel when they should have.
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The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.
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When we have “second thoughts” about something, our first thoughts don’t seem like thoughts at all – just feelings.
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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.
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It’s surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you’re not comfortable within yourself, you can’t be comfortable with others.
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No one should pay attention to a man delivering a lecture or a sermon on his “philosophy of life” until we know exactly how he treats his wife, his children, his neighbors, his friends, his subordinates and his enemies.
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The best combination of parents consists of a father who is gentle beneath his firmness, and a mother who is firm beneath her gentleness.
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Agnosticism is a perfectly respectable and tenable philosophical position; it is not dogmatic and makes no pronouncements about the ultimate truths of the universe. It remains open to evidence and persuasion; lacking faith, it nevertheless does not deride faith.
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Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.
SYDNEY J. HARRIS