Cynicism

From Wikiquote

Cynicism is a term which originally referred to the ancient Greek philosophy of the Cynics, often considered to have been founded by Antisthenes. Currently, the word "cynicism" generally describes the opinions of those who are disinclined to rely upon sincerity, human virtue, or altruism, and maintain that self-interest is the primary motive of human behaviour.

[edit] Sourced

Alphabetized by author

• There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.
  • Maya Angelou, as quoted in The Truth in Words (2005) by Neal Zero

• Cyn-ic: An idealist whose rose-colored glasses have been removed, snapped in two, and stomped into the ground, immediately improving his vision.
  • Rick Bayan at The Cynic's Sanctuary

• The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into two classes — openly bad and secretly bad.
  • Henry Ward Beecher, in Lectures to Young Men: On Various Important Subjects (1860) Lecture IV : Portrait Gallery

• Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
  • Ambrose Bierce, in The Devil's Dictionary

• Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.
  • Lillian Hellman in The Little Foxes (1939)

• A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.
  • Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Minister by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn

• I once said cynically of a politician, "He'll double-cross that bridge when he comes to it."
  • Oscar Levant, in The Memoirs of an Amnesiac (1965), p. 13

• What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
  • Oscar Wilde, in Lady Windermere's Fan (1892); often paraphrased : "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing."

[edit] Unsourced

Alphabetized by author

• Remember, beneath every cynic there lies a romantic, and probably an injured one.
  • Glenn Beck

• I am free of prejudice. I hate everyone equally.
  • W. C. Fields

• Idealist: a cynic in the making.
  • Irving Layton

• I fight cynicism. It's too easy. It's really boring. It's much harder to be positive and see the wonder of everything.
  • Ewan McGregor

• A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
  • H. L. Mencken

• The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
  • George Bernard Shaw

• Cynical is a word used by the frightened to describe the realistic.
  • Snog, Australian industrial rock band

[edit] External Links