Cynical Quotes

• Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

  George Carlin

  Funny, Disappointment, Humor

  "A Note on George Carlin about Steroids and Sports from a Practical Idealist" by Carol Smaldino, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 19, 2009.

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• 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.

  Erica Jong

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  "Fear of Flying". Book by Erica Jong, 1973.

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• Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

  H. L. Mencken

  God, Being Happy, Religion

  A Mencken Chrestomathy ch. 30 (1949)

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• Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government.

  Milton Friedman

  Government, Political, Energy

  82 Copy quote

• Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache.

  Mae West

  Love, Funny, Money

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• The opposite of creativity is cynicism

  Esa Saarinen

  Creativity, Opposites, Cynicism

  58 Copy quote

• If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

  Dorothy Parker

  Funny, Anniversary, Valentines Day

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• A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.

  W. C. Fields

  Funny, Sarcastic, Money

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Flower, Humor

  42 Copy quote

• Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.

  George S. Patton

  Attitude, Military, Humorous

  34 Copy quote

• False hope really makes you cynical.

  Bill Maher

  False Hope

  57 Copy quote

• Concerning politics: "The American media is like a watchdog who has developed an affection for the burglar."

  Ron Dart

  Media, Political, Affection

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• Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves.

  Robert Anton Wilson

  Cynicism, Idealism, Idealist

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• We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.

  H. L. Mencken

  Beautiful, Respect, Religious

  Minority Report: H. L. Mencken's Notebooks (1956)

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• Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?

  Groucho Marx

  Inspirational, Funny, Marriage

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Sometimes the idiots outvote the sensible people.

  H. L. Mencken

  People, Idiot, Sometimes

  28 Copy quote

• Men have a much better time of it than women. For one thing, they marry later; for another thing, they die earlier.

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Relationship, Marriage

  Chrestomathy (1949) ch. 30

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• Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it.

  Harry S. Truman

  Funny, Inspiration, Humor

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• Life is a whim of several billion cells to be you for a while

  Groucho Marx

  Birthday, Cute Life, Cells

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• No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up.

  Lily Tomlin

  Matter, Enough

  "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe". Play by Jane Wagner, 1985.

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• Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Freedom, Democracies Have, Government

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1971). “The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.413, Harvard University Press

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• Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.

  Aldous Huxley

  Intelligent, Men, Intelligence

  Aldous Huxley (1953). “The collected works of Aldous Huxley”

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• Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.

  Franklin P. Adams

  Psychology, Worst, Suspicion

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• That a peasant may become king does not render the kingdom democratic.

  Woodrow Wilson

  Kings, Democracy, Doe

  Woodrow Wilson, Arthur Stanley Link (1976). “The Papers of Woodrow Wilson”

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• Democracy: a festival of mediocrity.

  Emile M. Cioran

  Democracy, Mediocrity, Festivals

  23 Copy quote