Any creed whose basic doctrines do not include respect for the creeds of others, is simply power politics masquerading as philosophy. Sydney J. Harris More Quotes by Sydney J. Harris More Quotes From Sydney J. Harris 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 mistaketeacherchildren Nothing is as easy to make as a promise this winter to do something next summer; this is how commencement speakers are caught. Sydney J. Harris keeping-promisessummerwinter Many a secret that cannot be pried out by curiosity can be drawn out by indifference. Sydney J. Harris indifferencecuriositysecret People who think they're generous to a fault usually think that's their only fault. Sydney J. Harris generositypeoplethinking We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.' Sydney J. Harris parentingresponsibilityeducation Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be. Sydney J. Harris democracies-havepoliticalwitty 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. Sydney J. Harris divorcecoupleshould-have Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own. Sydney J. Harris menideasthinking Skepticism is not an end in itself; it is a tool for the discovery of truths. Sydney J. Harris toolstruthdiscovery Never take the advice of someone who has not had your kind of trouble. Sydney J. Harris kindtroubleadvice A truly successful person knows how to overcome the past, use the present, and prepare for the future-but unless we can first surmount the past, we cannot effectively cope with either the present or the future. Sydney J. Harris successfulleadershipsports 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. Sydney J. Harris testssecretcharacter 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 patriotismgreatnesscountry We can often endure an extra pound of pain far more easily than we can suffer the withdrawal of an ounce of accustomed pleasure. Sydney J. Harris withdrawalpainsuffering Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. Happiness is a direction, not a place. Sydney J. Harris detoursenjoyflower Knowledge fills a large brain; it merely inflates a small one. Sydney J. Harris brainknowledge The world has always been betrayed by decent men with bad ideals. Sydney J. Harris betrayedmenworld Life is, if anything, the art of combination. Of discrimination. Of freely picking one's own personal pattern out of a hundred choices. Not letting it be picked for you—either by the Establishment, or by the Rebels. Conformity of Hip is no better than Conformity of Square. Sydney J. Harris squareschoicesart As long as there are human beings, there will be the idea of brotherhood -- and an almost total inability to practice it. Sydney J. Harris practicemenideas Middle Age is that perplexing time of life when we hear two voices calling us, one saying, 'Why not?' and the other, 'Why bother?' Sydney J. Harris wittyfunnytwo
