Cynicism Quotes
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I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting . . . it was the start of a new Arab world.. The Berlin Wall has fallen. (Quote by - Walid Jumblatt)
I never think I feel cynical in general. Cynical is reality with an alternate spelling. I feel there's a gigantic amount of injustice and overt crime every day in the world, from emotional crimes to international crimes, and it often carries rewards. (Quote by - Woody Allen)
A cynic can chill and dishearten with a single word. (Quote by - Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The opposite of creativity is cynicism. (Quote by - Esa Saarinen)
In a cruel and evil world, being cynical can allow you to get some entertainment out of it. (Quote by - Daniel Waters)
In the end, .. that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?. (Quote by - Barack Obama)
There's something I believe wholeheartedly: Cynicism is the true refuge of the pseudo-intellectual, .. Cynicism is easy. Joy is an extremely advanced spiritual and intellectual tenet. (Quote by - Craig Ferguson)
Everyone in LA is cynical and spoiled and seen it all. (Quote by - Sally Morrison)
What is the use of straining after an amiable view of things, when a cynical view is most likely to be the true one?. (Quote by - George Bernard Shaw)
Cynic, n: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. (Quote by - Ambrose Bierce)
Vietnam was an exercise in mistaken idealism; Iraq in cynical money-making. And there's no optimism or idealism now -- Americans are tired of knowledge. Our leaders, the C-students from Yale, know this. We're proud of being ignorant; that leaves virtue at our core. We aren't frazzled by knowledge like foreigners, so we can be trusted. (Quote by - Kurt Vonnegut)
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. (Quote by - Henry Ward Beecher)
This is a cynical attempt by a certain faction of politicians to utilize religion to divide the people of Missouri along religious lines during an election year. It essentially asks legislators to vote on whether they believe in God and whether they think that the Christian version of God should be ratified as the state religion of Missouri. (Quote by - Brett Shirk)
To be fair, he has a personal history of charitable works like this, so it's not as if this is some person making a desperate effort to rehabilitate his career by suddenly reshaping himself as a philanthropist. The problem is we live in such a cynical age that it really doesn't matter what his intentions are; this will be viewed in cynical terms. (Quote by - Allan Mayer)
Frank was a sort of anthropologist in that sense. He really celebrated these lives, and these people, who were getting by as best they could in what to the rest of the world would be regarded as unusual circumstances, .. He was naturally very cynical about them, and about American culture in general, but he had an empathy for these people, because he grew up in that kind of environment. (Quote by - Barry Miles)
A cynic should never marry an idealist. For the cynic, marriage represents the welcome end of romantic life, with all its agony and ecstasy. But for the idealist, it is only the beginning. (Quote by - Julie Burchill)
This is unprecedented. The biggest fear is that people won't respond, that they're cynical or hopeless. (Quote by - Burt Neuborne)
It takes a clever man to turn cynic and a wise man to be clever enough not to. (Quote by - Fannie Hurst)
Nothing ever guarantees you anything-that's my rule. My other rule is never believe anything that anyone tells you, and then you'll never be fooled. It's not as cynical as it sounds; it's just that people always say something for a reason-maybe a nice reason, maybe a devious reason-so on that level, you can't take things at face value. (Quote by - David Hyde Pierce)
But, through the shift of mood and mood, Mine ancient humor saves him whole The cynic devil in his blood That bids him mock his hurrying soul; That bids him flout the Law he makes, That bids him make the Law he flouts, Till, dazed by many doubts, h. (Quote by - Rudyard Kipling)
We still have this medieval way of making decisions in the EU; people hide behind other member states, and blame them. It increases people's sense of cynicism, but what we need is some straight talking. (Quote by - Gary Titley)
An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run. (Quote by - Sydney J. Harris)
It is only the cynicism that is born of success that is penetrating and valid. (Quote by - George Jean Nathan)
The Daschle Democrats, in a cynical effort to score political points against this president, have chosen to fire a direct shot into a limping economy by killing the economic stimulus package. (Quote by - Trent Lott)
It's easy to be cynical and sit on the sidelines and throw stones at the commission. It's easier to do that if you don't participate. (Quote by - Craig Walton)
CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision. (Quote by - Ambrose Bierce)
The more cynical you become, the better off you'll be. (Quote by - Matt LeBlanc)
Cynicism is the only form in which base souls approach honesty. (Quote by - Friedrich Nietzsche)
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty. (Quote by - Samuel Ullman)
The cynics are right nine times out of ten. (Quote by - Henry Louis Mencken)
Every teen retailer has cynical shirts because it's a generation whose values are almost completely cynical. They're so clued into marketing and the wired world that they look at things with a more jaundiced eye than their parents. (Quote by - Eric Beder)
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. (Quote by - Oscar Wilde)
Students now arrive at the university ignorant and cynical about our political heritage, lacking the wherewithal to be either inspired by it or seriously critical of it. (Quote by - Allan Bloom)
This is just to try to keep the Republicans out of hot water until after the elections. It's one of the most cynical things I've seen in the legislative process. (Quote by - Craig Holman)
To all the cynics, I'm sorry for you, .. I'm sorry you can't believe in miracles. This is a great sporting event and hard work wins it. (Quote by - Lance Armstrong)
Such cynicism compromises the very concept of democratic election. (Quote by - Gennady Zyuganov)
Cynicism is the intellectual cripple's substitute for intelligence. (Quote by - J. Russel Lynes)
The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression. (Quote by - Henry Louis Mencken)
No, I am not at all cynical, I have merely got experience, which, however, is very much the same thing. (Quote by - Oscar Wilde)
We're both on the rebound, or whatever that terminology is when you're in recovery from a divorce. We have that in common, both scratching our heads fighting being cynical. And it's hard. You need a lot of humor to fight cynicism, and this movie has it - both, actually. So it's great. (Quote by - Diane Lane)
There's a justifiable degree of cynicism about the new coalition. People are unsure about what it will deliver in terms of economic reforms. (Quote by - Daragh Maher)
I think it is utterly cynical and ironic that they are after me because of the war that they organized, caused and led without themselves fighting it. (Quote by - Zoran Djindjic)
When people get cynical about love, they should look at us [Yoko and John Lennon] and see it is possible. (Quote by - Yoko Ono)
These are some of the poorest countries with the weakest health indicators in the world. People are pretty cynical when they look at Africa, but these countries have turned it around. (Quote by - Bruce Aylward)
These leaks make a mockery of the traditional rules of grand jury secrecy. They often appear to be a cynical attempt to pressure and intimidate witnesses, to deceive the public and to smear people involved in the investigation. (Quote by - David Kendall)
Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more. (Quote by - Erica Jong)
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. (Quote by - George Bernard Shaw)
Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows. (Quote by - David T. Wolf)
I wouldn't call them 'brutal,' but it's on the verge of reckless. I don't think it's purposeful and cynical. It's exuberant. It's wanting to win. (Quote by - April Heinrichs)
In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism and skepticism and humbug and we shall want to live more musically. (Quote by - Vincent van Gogh)
No man in his heart is quite so cynical as a well-bred woman. (Quote by - William Somerset Maugham)
Card acknowledged the White House was stunned by the caustic opposition from some members of the president's party. I don't think they know her, .. I'm a little surprised that they came out of the box so cynically. (Quote by - Andy Card)
Cynics are well-informed optimists. (Quote by - Jeff Frieden)
I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's active disengagement. (Quote by - Ken Burns)
I am not the Anne Bancroft interpretation, .. I'm back to doing what I do. Flamboyant, cynical and foul-mouthed, and drinks and smokes and says 'Go (expletive) in your shoes.' Loved it. (Quote by - Shirley MacLaine)
Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. (Quote by - George Carlin)
The energy level is way up, and cynicism is way down. Students are choosing sides now. (Quote by - David King)
Obasanjo has openly endorsed violence as a means of governance, embraced and empowered individuals whose avowed declarations, confessions and acts are cynically contrary to the mandate that alone upholds the legitimacy and dignity of his office. (Quote by - Wole Soyinka)
It's the subversive nature of how we deal with family values. I think what's really exciting about the show is the nonjudgmental look we have on our characters. It enables us to dramatize the way a family works without being cynical. (Quote by - Will Scheffer)
A cynical plan has been launched in Ukraine to destroy this administration. (Quote by - Viktor Yushchenko)
There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. (Quote by - Maya Angelou)
A cynic is someon who knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing. (Quote by - Oscar Wilde)
Work overload and ambiguity about a company's strategy lead to worker cynicism and this cynicism influences employees to play fast and loose. The ends become more important than the means. (Quote by - Li Ma)
He said, 'I'm just grateful for the work'. I thought he would be cynical like me, but he had this immense gratitude. (Quote by - Winona Ryder)
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. (Quote by - Henry Louis Mencken)
You will find that there is a very significant skepticism or cynicism that has been developing among law students -- and has been for quite some time, .. That may be attributed in part, if not in whole, to the approach that is being advanced by the law schools. (Quote by - Bruce Green)
If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign. (Quote by - George W. Bush)
The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were. (Quote by - John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
At no time was there a cynical scheme to displace thousands of hard-working state employees. (Quote by - Ernie Fletcher)
It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody. (Quote by - Brendan Behan)
I read some of my stories recently and thought, 'How in the hell did I get away with that?' I had some really raw cynicism in some of them. (Quote by - Carl Barks)
Sometimes, you know, the president is a father-like figure in American society, to most Americans, even today, no matter how cynical we've become. And people don't want to think that daddy's a bum all the time. They don't want to think that Daddy's a liar, a cheat and a fraud. (Quote by - Alec Baldwin)
These actions are outrageous and demonstrate the toxic level that political cynicism has reached in state government. (Quote by - Bill Burga)
Don't be a cynic and disconsolate preacher. Don't bewail and moan. Omit the negative propositions. Challenge us with incessant affirmatives. Don't waste yourself in rejection, or bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good. (Quote by - Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Banks will pursue these funds and call in collection agencies but in the end the majority will write-off the debt without understanding the root cause of the fraudulent loss. In many case banks don't even know about the problem so they don't have an incentive to fix the loss, .. Perhaps it's cynical to say this but banks would rather let people in and deal with fraudulent losses, which they pass on to retailers and customers anyway. There are many dedicated people in bank anti-fraud departments but institutionally they are not that motivated. (Quote by - Avivah Litan)
echelons mounted rapidly by the underdog as he strives regardless of the doubts pressed upon him by the cynicism of society enabled him to succeed where others made him doubt he could even proceed. (Quote by - william j. berrioz)
Essentially, the [New York] Philharmonic is just like any other orchestra-they all have the spirit of kids, and if you scratch away a little of the fatigue and cynicism, out comes a 17-year-old music student again, full of wonder, exuberance and a tremendous love of music. (Quote by - Zubin Mehta)
Idle brains exaggerate matters; and cynics cause great social damage. (Quote by - Atharva Veda)
No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up. (Quote by - Lily Tomlin)
People have become more cynical about believing the stories because there have been these racial hoaxes in recent memory and because the media have reported on it. (Quote by - Frankie Bailey)
If someone tells him the truth, he looks upon that as poison. He cannot tell victory from defeat. This is the way of life in the world of the faithless cynic. (Quote by - Sri Guru Granth Sahib)
Cynicism is intellectual treason. (Quote by - Norman Cousins)
Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack. (Quote by - General George S. Patton)
The idea of it was I was thinking about how when you're a kid you get this unconditional love and you spend the rest of your life trying to find that, but you can't because everyone's in it for their own thing. It's kind of cynical. (Quote by - Sam Endicott)
The European arguments against the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act demonstrate that "some Europeans have never lost faith in appeasement as a way of life. It is clear that Iran is cynically manipulating gullible (or equally cynical) Europeans to advance its development of weapons of mass destruction. (Quote by - John Bolton)
Only the broken-hearted idealist can become a cynic. (Quote by - Mark Clifton)
Today's so-called 'Freedom Walk' sponsored by the Pentagon is a cynical exercise in an effort to shore up sagging support for the president and his war policy in Iraq . (Quote by - Brian Walker)
A cynic might suggest as the motto of modern life this simple legend - 'Just as good as the real.' (Quote by - Charles Dudley Warner)
We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs. (Quote by - Kenneth Clark)
People are neither dismissive nor cynical, .. They believe that the changes will matter and some of the early evidence, such as the rate of goal-scoring, bears out their expectations. (Quote by - Bruce Anderson)
He felt about books as doctors feel about medicines, or managers about plays -- cynical but hopeful. (Quote by - Rose Macaulay)
Legally, I never received the draft notice. Morally, it is really cynical to summon me, the president of a (political) party that before the war and during the war has warned against the catastrophic policy of this regime. (Quote by - Zoran Djindjic)
A cynic is just a man who found out when he was ten that there wasn't any Santa Claus, and he's still upset. (Quote by - James G. Cozzens)
The most cynical people in the salaried group were also unmotivated because they saw less of a connection between doing a good job and getting more money, .. The cynicism that we studied, which was all about organizational change and inertia vs. progress, spilled over into their beliefs in doing a good job and being rewarded for it. They're cynical in one area, and it poisoned their perceptions in another area. (Quote by - John Wanous)
