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 teach—it 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.
By Allah, whenever I endure any adversity I gain four blessings of Allah in exchange. The first of them is, when the adversity is not caused by my sin (virtue is earned). The second, when the adversity is not greater than my sin (virtue is earned). The third, when I am not deprived of contentment (virtue is earned). And the fourth, I hope for virtues thereby.
Leisure without literature is death, or rather the burial of a living man -Otium sine litteris mors est et hominis vivi sepultura
The faster I write the better my output. If I'm going slow, I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.
There's something fascinating about seeing something you don't like at first but directly know you will love—in time. People are that way, all through life. You come against a personality, and it questions yours. You shy away but know there are gratifying secrets there, and the half-open door is often more exciting than the wide.
Think about what you're passionate about. I did not learn something early enough: if I could go back, I'd tell the younger me that there's a big difference between loving to work and loving the work.
What is reason? Knowledge informed by sympathy, intelligence in the arms of_x000D_ love.
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