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Sydney J. Harris Quotes and Quotations
The lusts of the flesh can be gratified anywhere; it is not this sort of licence that distinguishes New York. It is, rather, a lust of the total ego for recognition, even for eminence. More than elsewhere, everybody here wants to be Somebody. The true test of independent judgement is being able to dislike someone who admires us. The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. There's no point in burying a hatchet if you're going to put up a marker on the site. 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 man until they learned whether he fell in through his own fault or not. Ninety percent 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. We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until... we have stopped saying "It got lost," and say "I lost it." Many persons of high intelligence have notoriously poor judgement. We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until... we have stopped saying "It got lost," and say, "I lost it." |