Sydney J. Harris

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

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?

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.

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

The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one's mind a pleasant place in which to spend one's leisure.

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

The art of living consists in knowing which impulses to obey and which must be made to obey.

Happiness is a direction, not a place.

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.

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

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

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