Honesty consists of the unwillingness to lie to others; maturity, which is equally hard to attain, consists of the unwillingness to lie to oneself. Sydney J. Harris More Quotes by Sydney J. Harris More Quotes From Sydney J. Harris Why do so many people yearn for an eternal life when they don't even know what to do with themselves in this brief one? Sydney J. Harris eternal-lifeimmortalitypeople Good teaching must be slow enough so that it is not confusing, and fast enough so that it is not boring. Sydney J. Harris confusingteachingteacher Ninety per cent of the world's woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves - so how can we know anyone else? Sydney J. Harris knowingrealpeople A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, his is also one who is permanently disappointed in the future. Sydney J. Harris lessonsfearpast If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size? Sydney J. Harris angerpowerwisdom We evaluate others with a Godlike justice, but we want them to evaluate us with a Godlike compassion. Sydney J. Harris compassionjudgingjustice Maturity begins when we're content to feel we're right about something without feeling the necessity to prove someone else wrong. Sydney J. Harris maturityfeelingsinspirational The best combination of parents consists of a father who is gentle beneath his firmness, and a mother who is firm beneath her gentleness. Sydney J. Harris parentmotherfather The art of living consists in knowing which impulses to obey and which must be made to obey. Sydney J. Harris knowingmadeart A university is not, primarily, a place in which to learn how to make a living; it is a place in which to learn how to be more fully a human being, how to draw upon one's resources, how to discipline the mind and expand the imagination; how to make some sense out of the big world we will shortly be thrown into. Sydney J. Harris disciplinelearninglife A loser says that's the way it's always been done. A winner says there ought to be a better way. Sydney J. Harris loserdoneway 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 politicalcolorreality Never let your fears be the boundaries of your dreams. Sydney J. Harris follow-your-dreamsboundariesdream People who won't help others in trouble "because they got into trouble through their own fault" would probably not throw a lifeline to a drowning person until they learned whether that person fell in through his or her own fault or not. Sydney J. Harris faultshelping-otherspeople 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. Sydney J. Harris menphilosophychildren Why do most Americans look up to education and down upon educated people? Sydney J. Harris look-uppeoplelooks The deepest and rarest kind of courage has nothing to do with feats or obstacles in the outside world; and, indeed, has nothing to do with the outside world - it is the courage to be who you are. Sydney J. Harris be-who-you-arecourageworld The truest test of independent judgment is being able to dislike someone who admires us, and to admire someone who dislikes us. Sydney J. Harris dislike-someoneindependenceindependent The profound immoralities of our time are cruelty, indifference, injustice and the use of others as means rather than ends in themselves. Sydney J. Harris useprofoundmean And most of the failures in parent-child relationships, from my observation, begin when the child begins to acquire a mind and a will of its own, to make independent decisions and to question the omnipotence or the wisdom of the parent. Sydney J. Harris omnipotenceindependentchildren
