Nobody can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the foolishness of thinking one owns an idea simply because they have just encountered it.
Sydney J. Harris points out the irony and arrogance of young individuals who, upon discovering established ideas, mistakenly believe they are original thinkers. This suggests a common human tendency to overlook the history of thought and the contributions of others, often leading to a false sense of uniqueness and superiority.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a discussion about creativity and originality in a classroom setting.
A person is either himself or not himself; is either rooted in his existence or is a fabrication; has either found his humanhood or is still playing with masks and roles and status symbols. And nobody is more aware of this difference (although unconsciously) than a child. Only an authentic person can evoke a good response in the core of the other person; only person is resonant to person.
We evaluate others with a Godlike justice, but we want them to evaluate us with a Godlike compassion.
The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes them a mother - which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician.
Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.
"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.
At it's highest level, the purpose of teaching is not to teachβit is to inspire the desire for learning. Once a student's mind is set on fire, it will find a way to provide its own fuel.
A wise doctor does not mutter incantations over a sore that needs the knife.
These dreams reminded me that, since I wished some day to become a writer, it was high time to decide what sort of books I was going to write. But as soon as I asked myself the question, and tried to discover some subject to which I could impart a philosophical significance of infinite value, my mind would stop like a clock, my consciousness would be faced with a blank, I would feel either that I was wholly devoid of talent or perhaps that some malady of the brain was hindering its development.
For life: it is rather a determination not to be overwhelmed. For work: the truth can only be recalled, never invented.
Be flexible, but stick to your principles.
To understand is to perceive patterns.
You always pay too much. Particularly for promises. There aint no such thing as a bargain promise.
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