Cynic Quotes - Page 4

• Perhaps no philosopher is more correct than the cynic. The happiness of the animal, that thorough cynic, is the living proof of cynicism.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Animal, Philosopher, Cynicism

  "Untimely Meditations". Book by Friedrich Nietzsche, cited in Peter Sloterdijk, "Critique of Cynical Reason" (1987) p.9, 1876.

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• The cat is such a perfect symbol of beauty and superiority that is seems scarcely possible for any true aesthete and civilized cynic to do other than to worship it.

  H. P. Lovecraft

  Cat, Perfect, Worship

  H. P. Lovecraft (2016). “H. P. LOVECRAFT äóñ Ultimate Collection: 120+ Works ALL in One Volume: Complete Novellas & Short Stories, Juvenilia, Poetry, Essays & Collaborations: The Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow Out of Time, At the Mountains of Madness, The Dunwich Horror, Dagon, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Outsider, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Cats of Ultharäó_”, p.1383, e-artnow

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• You're such a cynic," Molly said. "I think cynics are playful and cute.

  Jim Butcher

  Cute, Thinking, Harry Dresden

  Jim Butcher (2010). “Changes: A Novel of the Dresden Files”, p.40, Penguin

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• 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.

  John Bolton

  Mass Destruction, Iran, Cynical

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• 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

  Disappointment, War, Upset

  James Gould Cozzens, Matthew Joseph Bruccoli (1978). “Just representations: a James Gould Cozzens reader”, Southern Illinois Univ Pr

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• 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.

  Wole Soyinka

  Mean, Office, Violence

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• A beardless cynic is the shame of nature.

  John Milton

  Shame, Cynicism

  David Garrick, Arthur Murphy, Edward Ravenscroft, William Shakespeare, Henry Fielding (1792). “A Collection of the Most Esteemed Farces and Entertainments Performed on the British Stage”, p.224

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• The more cynical you become, the better off you'll be.

  Matt LeBlanc

  Cynical, Cynicism, Better Off

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• A cynic who was still saddened whenever his jaundiced view of mankind was confirmed.

  Sharon Kay Penman

  Views, Mankind, Saddened

  Sharon Kay Penman (2010). “When Christ and His Saints Slept”, p.89, Macmillan

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• The only way to do my job without optimism would be as a cynic, and that's not my nature.

  Jon Snow

  Jobs, Optimism, Would Be

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• A cynic sees little to admire in the world, while the world sees even less to admire in him.

  Evan Esar

  World, Littles, Cynicism

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• Someone once said, if you scratch a cynic, and you'll find a disappointed idealist. That really rang a bell with me - because I recognized that, within me, there is this flame, of wishing it were better, wishing people had better lives, that there was more of an authentic sharing and harmony with nature.

  George Carlin

  Flames, People, Wish

  Source: mavericksofthemind.com

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• Cynicism and defensiveness are two things constantly levelled at me. Look, I've got time for people, I'm good mannered. I usually find that when you're down, nobody has a bloody minute for you. If I was a nobody, you wouldn't even talk to me. People, in general, don't like you being upfront and civil. They hate you for it. They label you a cynic 'cos you're reasonable.

  Nick Cave

  Hate, People, Good Man

  Source: thequietus.com

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• Cynicism is easy. An optimist is a braver cynic.

  Colum McCann

  Cynicism, Easy, Optimist

  Colum McCann (2013). “TransAtlantic”, p.107, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• Many teachers are concerned about the amount of material they must cover in a course. One cynic suggested a formula: since, he said, students on the average remember only about 40% of what you tell them, the thing to do is to cram into each course 250% of what you hope will stick.

  Paul Halmos

  Education, Teacher, Math

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• The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hope only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.

  Paul Hawken

  Running, Night, Sight

  Paul Hawken's Commencement Address at University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 2, 2014.

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• A cynic had defined aid as simply the system by which poor white people in rich countries gave money to rich black people in poor countries to put into Swiss bank accounts.

  Wilbur Smith

  Country, Rich Countries, White

  Wilbur Smith (2013). “Wilbur Smith's Smashing Thrillers: Hungry as the Sea, Elephant Song and Wild Justice”, p.686, Pan Macmillan

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• A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin or when he sees silver he looks for the cloud it lines. A wise happy person does the exact opposite.

  H. L. Mencken

  Wise, Gratitude, Flower

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• A sceptic finds Dallas absurd. A cynic thinks the public doesn't

  Clive James

  Thinking, Dallas, Classic

  Clive James (1983). “Glued to the box: television criticism from the Observer, 1979-82”, Jonathan Cape

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• An executive should be a realist; and no one is less realistic than the cynic.

  Peter Drucker

  Realist, Should, Executives

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• I get the cynicism thing all the time, although I don't really know where that comes from, because I think I'm actually the opposite of a cynic.

  Matt Taibbi

  Thinking, Opposites, Cynicism

  Interview with Gregg LaGambina, www.avclub.com. July 11, 2008.

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• For the cynic, art is defined through money. That, of course, is a very sad statement. But an artist is someone who does creative things.

  Wolfgang Beltracchi

  Art, Creative, Doe

  "Confessions of a Genius Art Forger". Interview with Lothar Gorris and Sven Röbel, www.spiegel.de. March 9, 2012.

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• A cynic is a kind of romantic who has aged.

  John Updike

  Kind

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• 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.

  Sam Endicott

  Kids, Unconditional Love, Thinking

  "Bravery Kick Off Tour, Plan Video With Animals" by Corey Moss, www.mtv.com. September 14, 2005.

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• I don't consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist.

  George Carlin

  Thinking, Realist, Skeptic

  Source: www.avclub.com

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