amusingly arrogant

I must follow my previous, quite satirical and borderline rude post with the following quotation I happened upon today.

Nothing can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.

Sydney J. Harris, a genius of a journalist said that, and I wrote it down because I am sure I am that arrogant young (wo)man. I learn things in school or on TV or even in a bible study and repeat them with some claim of ownership as if the person listening to me should thank me for imparting this enlightened bit of information to them. Even the small, insubstantial connections I fully believe that I have drawn completely on my own are all silly and immature.

Thank you, Mr. Harris for serving me a slice of humble pie today. I have no idea of the context in which you wrote such a one-liner, but I appreciate your insight.

Here are a couple other quotations of his for thought:

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.

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.