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Sydney J. Harris

Sydney J. Harris Quotes

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Famous Sydney J. Harris Quotes

“What is much harder to handle is the sense that you have to live up to the mark someone else has set for you. The grades become too important, the competition too frantic, the fear of disappointing those who believe in you turns into an overwhelming nightmare. And it is desperately unfair to the boy. He cannot live his parents' life over again for them. He cannot make up for their own lacks, their own unfulfillments. He cannot carry their torch -- only his own.”

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Book:The Best of Sydney J. Harris
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“The truly terrible thing about the war spirit, about the fear and hate hysteria it generates, is that it forces us to think and talk and feel in terms of abstractions—those "communists" this time, those "fascists" last time. But those we are fighting and killing are people—men, women and children—not political, geographic or economic abstractions. They are, in the main, as decent and fearful and confused as we are. And they regard us as abstractions as much as we do them.”

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Author:Sydney J. Harris
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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. Atheism, on the other hand, is as unyielding and dogmatic about religious belief as true believers are about heathens. It tries to use reason to demolish a structure that is not built upon reason.”

TryingDoeReasonUseHandsUniverseBeliefReligiousAtheismPositionEvidenceBuiltUltimatePhilosophicalRemainsStructureBelieverNeverthelessLackingPersuasionRespectableAgnosticismReligious BeliefDogmaticTrue BelieverHeathenUltimate TruthUnyieldingDemolish
Book:Pieces of Eight Pa
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“The acceptance of ambiguity implies more than the commonplace understanding that some good things and some bad things happen to us. It means that we know that good and evil are inextricably intermixed in human affairs; that they contain, and sometimes embrace, their opposites; that success may involve failure of a different kind, and failure may be a kind of triumph.”

KnowsHumansKindMayMeanDifferentSometimesHappensEvilUnderstandingAcceptanceFailureOppositesEmbraceGood ThingsAffairThings HappenTriumphGood And EvilBad ThingsDifferent KindsAmbiguityCommonplaceBad Things Happen
Book:Clearing the ground
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“The public examination of homosexuality in our contemporary life is still so coated with distasteful moral connotations that even a reviewer is bound to wonder uneasily why he was selected to evaluate a book on the subject, and to assert defensively at the outset that he is happily married, the father of four children and the one-time adornment of his college boxing, track and tennis teams.”

ChildrenStillsBookLife IsFatherWonderMoralFourTeamSubjectsCollegeMarriedOur ChildrenBoundsTrackContemporaryTennisBoxingOne TimeHomosexualityExaminationEvaluateSelectedReviewersConnotationDistastefulHappily MarriedAdornmentContemporary LifeTennis Team
Author:Sydney J. Harris
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“As we grow older, we should learn that these are two quite different things. Character is something you forge for yourself; temperament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify. Some people have easy temperaments and weak characters; others have difficult temperaments and strong characters. We are all prone to confuse the two in assessing people we associate with. Those with easy temperaments and weak characters are more likable than admirable; those with difficult temperaments and strong characters are more admirable than likable.”

PeopleShouldTwoDifferentCharacterStrongGrowsEasyDifficultBornWeakDifferent ThingsAssociatesTemperamentAdmirableStrong CharacterAssessingWeak Character
Book:Clearing the ground
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“When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'”

ThinkingLifeInspirationalHardFunnyLife IsAsksSelf EsteemPositiveInspirational LifeAskingHearingCompareMeaning Of LifeHolidayComparisonFavouriteLive Your LifeBad AssSighDeep ThoughtTemptedFunny InspirationalPositive LifeMeaningful LifeLife Is HardHard LifeFunny MotivationalTop 100Difficult LifeWhen Life Is HardFunniest InspirationalSigh Of Relief
Book:Strictly personal
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“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

WholeSchoolPurposeTurnsEducationLearningWallWindowMirrorsMetaphorEducationalMathematicalClassroomGraduationEducatorEducation SystemSelf EducationGreat EducationGood EducationTeaching And LearningEducation And TeachersColumnistsSchools And EducationGreat EducationalTeaching And EducationTeaching EducationTeacher StudentSchool LifeChildren LearningInspirational EducationFormal EducationChildren EducationHigh School GraduationStudents And EducationInspirational GraduationStudent LearningChildren And EducationValue Of EducationPurpose Of EducationGraduation DayFree EducationInspiring EducationTeaching StudentsSchool YearsEarly EducationFirst Day Of SchoolWhat Is EducationAdult EducationGreat SchoolsSchool GraduationSchools And TeachersAcademic EducationCool GraduationInvestment In EducationCompulsory EducationGraduating SeniorsInspirational SchoolEducational TechnologyClasses In School
Book:Pieces of Eight Pa
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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.”

PeopleIfsPersonsFeelingsRelationshipSelf EsteemConfidenceSelf LoveComfortableSelf AwarenessDeterminedSelf ConfidenceOptimisticSelf AcceptanceLove YourselfBe YouSurprisingRecognizingTake Care Of YourselfSelf Esteem And ConfidenceSocial InteractionSelf-satisfactionInspiring Self EsteemLove Your SelfYourself And Love
Author:Sydney J. Harris
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