Sidney J. Harris

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.

— Sidney J. Harris

Middle Age is that perplexing time of life when we hear two voices calling us, one saying, Why not? and the other, Why bother?

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

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.

— Sidney J. Harris

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

If the devil could be persuaded to write a bible, he would title it, You Only Live Once.

— Sidney J. Harris

When you run into someone who is disagreeable to others, you may be sure he is uncomfortable with himself; the amount of pain we inflict upon others is directly proportional to the amount we feel within us.

— Sidney J. Harris

A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

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.

— Sidney J. Harris

Sometimes the best, and only effective, way to kill an idea is to put it into practice.

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

Perseverance is the most overrated of traits, if it is unaccompanied by talent; beating your head against a wall is more likely to produce a concussion in the head than a hole in the wall.

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris

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.

— Sidney J. Harris

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?

— Sidney J. Harris

Good teaching must be slow enough so that it is not confusing, and fast enough so that it is not boring.

— Sidney J. Harris

Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting.

— Sidney J. Harris

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.

— Sidney J. Harris

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.”

— Sidney J. Harris

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

— Sidney J. Harris