“Usually, if we hate, it is the shadow of the person that we hate, rather than the substance.”

"Hate Is Rarely a Personal Matter"
The Best of Sydney J. Harris (1975)
Context: Usually, if we hate, it is the shadow of the person that we hate, rather than the substance. We may hate a person because he reminds us of someone we feared and disliked when younger; or because we see in him some gross caricature of what we find repugnant in ourself; or because he symbolizes an attitude that seems to threaten us.

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Sydney J. Harris 44
American journalist 1917–1986

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