quotations about cynicism
The cynic, a parasite of civilisation, lives by denying it, for the very reason that he is convinced that it will not fail. What would become of the cynic among a savage people where everyone, naturally and quite seriously, fulfils what the cynic farcically considers to be his personal role?
JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET
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The Revolt of the Masses
A cynic is just a man who found out when he was about ten that there wasn't any Santa Claus, and he's still upset. Yes, there'll be more war; and soon, I don't doubt. There always has been. There'll be deaths and disappointments and failures. When they come, you meet them.
JAMES GOULD COZZENS
The Just and the Unjust
Cynicism is only intellectual sloth.
HENRY ROLLINS
"Riff on life's journey blends humor, hope", Columbus Dispatch, April 2, 2010
A cynic is a person searching for an honest man, with a stolen lantern.
EDGAR A. SHOAFF
attributed, Bathroom Almanac
Cynicism--the intellectual cripple's substitute for intelligence.
RUSSELL LYNES
attributed, The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Toasts & Quotes
If to look truth in the face and not resent it when it's unpalatable, and take human nature as you find it ... is to be cynical, then I suppose I'm a cynic.
SOMERSET MAUGHAM
The Back of Beyond
Cynicism, like gullibility, is a symptom of underdeveloped critical faculties.
JAMIE WHYTE
Crimes Against Logic
I hate cynicism a great deal worse than I do the devil; unless, perhaps, the two were the same thing?
R.L. STEVENSON
An Inland Voyage
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
TERRY PRATCHETT
Guards! Guards!
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
JOYCE CAROL OATES
Do What You Will
The greater part of the truth is always hidden, in regions out of the reach of cynicism.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
letter to Michael Tolkien, Nov. 1, 1963
A cheap and easy cynicism rails at everything. The master of the art accomplishes the formidable task of discrimination.
AMBROSE BIERCE
"Epigrams of a Cynic"
Cynicism is intellectual treason.
NORMAN COUSINS
Human Options
A cynic sees little to admire in the world, while the world sees even less to admire in him.
EVAN ESAR
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