quotations about cynicism
There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.
MAYA ANGELOU
attributed, The Truth in Words
The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twister pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
"Citizenship in a Republic", April 23, 1910
Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.
LILLIAN HELLMAN
The Little Foxes
A lazy life of fatal waste
Of fashionable cynicism
The poison they want you to drink
Oh no man that's too easy
STEREOLAB
"The Noise of Carpet"
Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly, because it means you don't have to try.
PEGGY NOONAN
Good Housekeeping
Don't be a cynic and disconsolate preacher. Don't bewail and bemoan. Omit the negative propositions. Nerve us with incessant affirmatives. Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Society and Solitude
Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.
GEORGE CARLIN
stand-up routine
Cynical is a fool's word for realist.
PAUL CHRISTOPHER
The Lucifer Gospel
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for the coffin.
H. L. MENCKEN
The Smart Set
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
OSCAR WILDE
Lady Windermere's Fan
Your universities teach you to be eternal cynics, a cynicism that can be only drowned in alcohol and diet pills and psychoanalysts and golf.
ABBIE HOFFMAN
Woodstock Nation
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.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
Cynic: An idealist whose rose-colored glasses have been removed, snapped in two and stomped into the ground, immediately improving his vision.
RICK BAYAN
The Cynic's Dictionary
Cynicism is cheap--you can buy it at any Monoprix store--it’s built into all poor-quality goods.
GRAHAM GREENE
The Comedians
[The] power of accurate observation ... is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
BERNARD SHAW
Shaw's Music
No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up.
LILY TOMLIN
stand-up routine
Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent.
GLEN COOK
Shadow Games
Cynicism ... merely critiques. It is passive, cocooning itself from the passions of the great cosmic battle we are engaged in. It is without hope.
PAUL E. MILLER
A Praying Life
Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.
STEPHEN COLBERT
Knox College commencement address, Jun. 3, 2006
Cynicism formulates issues clearly, but only to dismiss them.
MASON COOLEY
City Aphorisms