Arguably having slightly unfamiliar syntax that has long term benefits (like lisp's parens) provides an excellent filter against programmers who you really don't want in your community, anyway. I find that people who obsess over syntax are often the ones who know the least about programming and computer science in general.

That said, some syntax choices are horrifically bad, and make simple things hard. But lisp's parens are not an example of this, just the opposite.