WIST Quotations

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Atheists, Like Fundamentalists, are Dogmatic,” >Pieces of Eight (1982)

Dave — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:07:41 +0000

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.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Atheists, Like Fundamentalists, are Dogmatic,” >Pieces of Eight (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Confusing ‘Character’ with ‘Temperament’,” Clearing the Ground (1986)

Dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:27:24 +0000

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.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Confusing ‘Character’ with ‘Temperament’,” Clearing the Ground (1986)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Nations Should Submit to the Rule of Law,” Clearing the Ground (1986)

Dave — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 04:05:04 +0000

“Terrorism” is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it; “war” is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Nations Should Submit to the Rule of Law,” Clearing the Ground (1986)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Purely Personal Prejudices,” Strictly Personal (1953)

Dave — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:52:29 +0000

The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Purely Personal Prejudices,” Strictly Personal (1953)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Strictly Personal” column (20 Jan 1985)

Dave — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 20:24:07 +0000

To me, at least, the greatest blasphemy in the world is not the denial of God’s existence, but the claim that we have a pipeline to Him, and that all other claimants are wrong. This assertion is what plunged the world into the bloodiest of wars in the past, and might well do so again if the zealots had their way.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Strictly Personal” column (20 Jan 1985)

Reprinted in Clearing the Ground (1986)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Strictly Personal” column (5 Apr 1962)

Dave — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 13:57:57 +0000

A person who has no genuine sense of pity for the weak is missing a basic source of strength, for one of the prime moral forces that comprise greatness and strength of character is a feeling of mercy. The ruthless man, au fond, is always a weak and frightened man.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Strictly Personal” column (5 Apr 1962)
(Source)

Reprinted in On the Contrary (1964).

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Strictly Personal” column (7 Jan 1982)

Dave — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:48:52 +0000

Knowledge fills a large brain; it merely inflates a small one.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Strictly Personal” column (7 Jan 1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Strictly Personal” column (8 Apr 1955)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 15:43:08 +0000

The most dangerous heresy of our time, it bears repeating, is the belief that belief in itself is a good thing, regardless of its content; for faith that is attached to an unworthy or inadequate object makes people less than they are, not more.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Strictly Personal” column (8 Apr 1955)
(Source)

Reprinted in Leaving the Surface (1968).

Harris, Sydney J. -- “Thoughts at Large,” column, Chicago Sun-Times

Dave — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:39:05 +0000

An idealist believes the short run doesn’t count. A cynic believes the long run doesn’t matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“Thoughts at Large,” column, Chicago Sun-Times

Earliest reference in Readers Digest (May 1979)

Harris, Sydney J. -- “What’s Wrong with Being Proud?” Pieces of Eight (1982)

Dave — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:54:51 +0000

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. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. 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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
“What’s Wrong with Being Proud?” Pieces of Eight (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

If you want to know what a man’s character is really like, don’t ask him to tell you his creed or his code (for everyone has a prettified public version of these), but ask him to tell you the living person he most admires – for hero worship is the truest index of a man’s private nature.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The surest indication of a mediocre mind is its belief that everything can be explained.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 21:47:13 +0000

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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Frequently attributed to Harris, but the original source has not been found. Earliest citation I could find was in Reader's Digest (1973), where it is further credited to the Publishers-Hall Syndicate.

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:57:18 +0000

Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:30:51 +0000

Enemies, as well as lovers, come to resemble each other over a period of time.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:10:55 +0000

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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:43:37 +0000

Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in marriage.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:05:52 +0000

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.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:02:40 +0000

The reason that truth is stranger than fiction is that fiction has to have a rational thread running through it in order to be believable, whereas reality may be totally irrational.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

See Twain.

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:23:32 +0000

The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, “I was wrong.”

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:27:53 +0000

When I hear somebody sigh that “Life is hard,” I am always tempted to ask, “Compared to what?”

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:33:51 +0000

There’s no point in burying the hatchet if you’re going to put up a marker on the site.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:58:38 +0000

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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 14:41:36 +0000

If you are honest because you think that is the best policy, your honesty has already been corrupted.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:22:09 +0000

If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Clearing the Ground, “Lies Are Not Easily Put to Rest” (1986)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:39:48 +0000

We believe what we want to believe, what we like to believe, what suits our prejudices and fuels our passions.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Clearing the Ground, “Lies Are Not Easily Put to Rest” (1986)

Harris, Sydney J. -- For the Time Being (1972)

Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:51:41 +0000

It is tiresome to keep hearing that the Bible is “the best-selling book” of all time, as though the fact that many people buy it indicates that they read it, understand it or follow it.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
For the Time Being (1972)
(Source)

Harris, Sydney J. -- For the Time Being, ch. 6, epigram (1972)

Dave — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 20:36:38 +0000

Men may be divided almost any way we please, but I have found the most useful distinction to be made between those who devote their lives to conjugating the verb “to be” and those who spend their lives conjugating the verb “to have.”

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
For the Time Being, ch. 6, epigram (1972)
(Source)

Harris, Sydney J. -- On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice — that is, until we have stopped saying, “It got lost,” and say, “I lost it.”

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Harris, Sydney J. -- On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Harris, Sydney J. -- On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Dave — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:59:28 +0000

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Harris, Sydney J. -- On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Dave — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:19:34 +0000

People who think they’re generous to a fault usually think that’s their only fault.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
On the Contrary, ch. 7 (1962)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight (1982)

Dave — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 23:40:30 +0000

The most important tactic in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight (1982)
(Source)

Frequently misquoted: "The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face."

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight (1982)

Dave — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:06:25 +0000

To execute a murderer is simply to adopt his point of view.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight (1982)

Dave — Mon, 27 May 2019 18:56:01 +0000

Youth finds no value in the views it disagrees with, but maturity includes discovering that even an opinion contrary to ours may contain a vein of truth we could profitably assimilate to our own views.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight (1982)
(Source)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight, ch. 2 (1982)

Dave — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:10:33 +0000

The idea of growth for its own sake is precisely the philosophy of the cancer cell.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 2 (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight, ch. 3 (1982)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:36:32 +0000

Most revolutionaries soon become either corrupt or repressive because the qualities that make men successful revolutionaries drive them to other excesses after they have achieved power.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 3 (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight, ch. 4 (1982)

Dave — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:36:43 +0000

It is only a sentimental half-truth that the best things in life are free; while they may be, it is equally true that we need the money to buy the time to enjoy them.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 4 (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Pieces of Eight, ch. 4 (1982)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 21:21:06 +0000

The good person loves people and uses things, while the bad person loves things and uses people.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 4 (1982)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Strictly Personal (1953)

Dave — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 13:57:27 +0000

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Strictly Personal (1953)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Column, Chicago Daily News (1971)

Dave — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:04:18 +0000

A great many people feel “guilty” about things they shouldn’t feel guilty about, in order to shut out feelings of guilt about the things they should feel guilty about.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Column, Chicago Daily News (1971)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Column, Chicago Daily News (20 Feb 1958)

Dave — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:55:52 +0000

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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Column, Chicago Daily News (20 Feb 1958)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Syndicated column, Chicago Daily News (1965)

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:58:57 +0000

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 (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Syndicated column, Chicago Daily News (1965)

Harris, Sydney J. -- Syndicated column, Chicago Daily News (Apr 1971)

Dave — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:10:02 +0000

One of the oldest Russian proverbs remains as inexorably true in modern America: “No one is hanged who has money in his pocket.” Or, one might say, capital punishment is only for those without capital.

Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Syndicated column, Chicago Daily News (Apr 1971)