Sydney J. Harris Quotes

Always keep your words soft and sweet. You never know when you'll have to eat them. Always remember, as you go out to seek your fortune, your fame, your fulfillment, always remember that it's not who you know in this world, it's whom.

A very great part of the mischiefs that vex the world arises from words.

It would be immoral to walk away from the consequences of our actions, leaving behind anarchy and civil war in Iraq.

Incompetents invariably make trouble for people other than themselves.

My husband does not like me to give interviews because I say too much. No talk, no trouble.

We might knit that knot with our tongues that we shall never undo with our teeth.

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

I tell the truth, and it has gotten me into a lot of trouble. My dad used to say to me, 'If you tell the truth all day long, you will end up in jail.'

Sex: the thing that takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble.

In politics there are no bad questions; there are only bad answers.

So this is the little lady who made this big war.

Nations are what their deeds are.

I've really learned to watch what I say.

I don't like making comparisons. You might say one slight thing, find yourself misinterpreted, and suddenly you're in trouble.

I'm always in trouble.

Words are like eggs dropped from great heights; you can no more call them back than ignore the mess they leave when they fall.

Words began fights and words ended them.

It's not what enters men's mouth that is evil," said the alchemist. It's what comes out of their mouths that is.

Once you say something, it stays said. I apologized to anyone who may have been hurt by what I said, and I really meant it. I am absolutely not interested in hurting anyone, or being mean or insensitive.

Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble?Making life means making trouble. There’s only one way of escaping trouble; and that’s killing things.

There is a great deal of trouble in this world which is not caused by people keeping their mouths shut.

So much harm comes into this world when the wrong thing is said. But that's nothing compared to the pain from what goes unsaid.

If you're going to say what you want to say, you're going to hear what you don't want to hear.

Isn't that how it is when you must decide with your heart? You are not just choosing one thing over another. You are choosing what you want. And you are also choosing what somebody else does not want, and all the consequences that follow. You can tell yourself, That's not my problem, but those words do not wash the trouble away. Maybe it is no longer a problem in your life. But it is always a problem in your heart.

...words are some of the most powerful and important things I know....Language is the tool of love and the weapon of hatred. It's the bright red warning flag of danger--and the stone foundation of diplomacy and peace.