Sydney J. Harris

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought read more

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.

The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love read more

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".

Ninety percent of the world's woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real read more

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.

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is
regret for the things we did not read more

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

An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that read more

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.