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Quote by Sydney J. Harris

“Usually, if we hate, it is the shadow of the person that we hate, rather than the substance. We may hate a person because he reminds us of someone we feared and disliked when younger; or because we see in him some gross caricature of what we find repugnant in ourself; or because he symbolizes an attitude that seems to threaten us.”

Quote by Sydney J. Harris

Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Work

Best of Sydney J. Harris

This book is a compilation of notable essays, articles, and stories written by Sydney J. Harris, a renowned author known for his wit and insightful commentary on various subjects. The collection reflects Harris's distinctive voice and his ability to engage readers with thought-provoking content. more

Author

Sydney J. Harris

Sydney J. Harris was an American journalist renowned for his wit and incisive commentary. Born on September 14, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois, he passed away on December 8, 1986. Harris was a prominent figure in journalism, particularly for his newspaper columns. more

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“Self-discipline without talent can often achieve astounding results, whereas talent without self-discipline inevitably dooms itself to failure.”

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“This is a lesson mankind has not yet learned. We identify, and stratify, and treat persons largely on the basis of their accidental (physical) characteristics, which have no deeper meaning.”

Persons Mankind Lessons Treats Bases Deeper Characteristics Deeper Meaning

Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris

“Isolation always perverts; when a man lives only among his own sort, he soon begins to believe that his sort are the best sort. This attitude breeds both the arrogance of the conservative and the bitterness of the radical.”

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Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris

“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.”

People Reason Waste Minorities Remove Resentment Nutrition Psychics Grievance

Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris

“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.”

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Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris

“The greatest enemy of progress is not stagnation, but false progress.”

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Author:Sydney J. Harris

“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.”

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Book:Strictly personal

Source: Strictly personal

“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.”

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Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris

“When we inform, we lead from strength; when we communicate, we lead from weakness—and it is precisely this confession of mortality that engages the ears, heads and hearts of those we want to enlist as allies in a common cause.”

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Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris

“But what is significant is that if you don't want to like and accept somebody, one excuse is as good as another. The objective facts don't matter, and the reasons are never as ‘reasonable' as we like to think they are.”

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Book:Best of Sydney J. Harris

Source: Best of Sydney J. Harris