Cynicism Quotes - Page 8

• If spirituality is not religion or cynicism or sentimentality or narcissism, then what is it?... we can confidently say... that spirituality is fearlessness. It is a way of looking boldly at this life we have been given, here, now, on earth, as this human being.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Earth, Way, Spirituality

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• Cynicism is just an excuse for not helping.

  Marianne Williamson

  Helping Others, Excuse, Helping Hand

  FaceBook post by Marianne Williamson from Sep 10, 2013

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• It is cynicism and fear that freeze life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, sets it free.

  Harry Emerson Fosdick

  Faith, Release, Freeze

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• There is no comparing the brutality and cynicism of today's pop culture with that of forty years ago: from High Noon to Robocop is a long descent.

  Charles Krauthammer

  Years, Long, Society

  International Herald Tribune, October 31, 1990.

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• The ultimate cynicism is to suspend judgment so that you are not judged.

  Marya Mannes

  Judgment, Ultimate, Judged

  Marya Mannes (1958). “More in Anger”

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• Nothing is more urgent than a serious, dare I say compassionate, debate as to where we are going at home and abroad. Technicians cannot master revolutions; every great achievement was an idea before it became a reality. Cathedrals cannot be built by those who are paralyzed by doubt or consumed by cynicism. If a society loses the capacity for great conception, it can be administered but not governed.

  Henry A. Kissinger

  Wisdom, Home, Reality

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• A beardless cynic is the shame of nature.

  John Milton

  Shame, Cynic

  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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• 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, Thorough

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

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• Cynicism makes you feel smart, I know it, even when you aren't smart.

  Richard Ford

  Smart, Feels, Knows

  Richard Ford (2012). “The Bascombe Novels: The Sportswriter, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land”, p.145, A&C Black

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• No man in his heart is quite so cynical as a well-bred woman.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Heart, Men, Cynical

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• The cure for cynicism is simply to engage honestly.

  Jeremy Paxman

  Cures, Honestly

  "Paxman answers the questions" by Matt Wells, www.theguardian.com. January 31, 2005.

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• It's a wonderful thing working with young actors. I know a lot of people don't like working with children. I actually adore it, because you watch their imagination open up and you watch them start to learn this job that I've been doing for so long. They come with such a lack of cynicism.

  Michelle Forbes

  Jobs, Children, Long

  "Q&A – Michelle Forbes (Mitch Larsen)". AMCtv.com Interview, www.amc.com.

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• If there's one thing that makes me cynical, it's optimists. They are just far too cynical about cynicism. If only they could see that cynics can be happy, constructive, even fun to hang out with, they might learn a thing or two.

  Julian Baggini

  Fun, Two, Cynical

  "In praise of cynicism" by Julian Baggini, www.theguardian.com. July 10, 2013.

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• Cynicism and naivety lie cheek by jowl in the American imagination; if the United States is one of the most venal nations on Earth, it is also one of the most earnestly idealistic.

  Terry Eagleton

  Lying, Imagination, United States

  "Age of innocence" by Terry Eagleton, www.theguardian.com. July 25, 2008.

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• Enforced religion breeds precisely what it most fears: rebellion against religion, cynicism about religion, skepticism about its claims, and, as a consequence, indifference at best or outright antipathy at worst.

  Langdon Brown Gilkey

  Church, Indifference, Rebellion

  Langdon Gilkey, Langdon Brown Gilkey (1985). “Creationism on Trial: Evolution and God at Little Rock”, p.11, University of Virginia Press

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• Emotional and psychological pain were to become, perhaps, the most powerful force in molding the course of my life. For some people, pain and hurt breed bitterness and cynicism. For others it causes them to look deeply into themselves and into life itself in an attempt to understand the meaning beneath seemingly capricious or arbitrary happenings.

  Joseph Girzone

  Hurt, Pain, Powerful

  Joseph F. Girzone (1994). “Never Alone: A Personal Way to God”, Doubleday Books

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• But hard bitten cynicism leaves one feeling peevish, and too much of it can do lasting damage to your heart.

  Julie Powell

  Heart, Feelings, Too Much

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• Smile, it's better than a poke in the eye.

  Douglas Horton

  Happiness, Smile, Laughter

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• Indulge me, John. Cynicism and foul language are the only vices I'm presently capable of. Everything else takes energy or money.

  Mary Doria Russell

  Vices, Energy, Foul Language

  Mary Doria Russell (1998). “Children of God: A Novel”, Villard Books

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• Whereas modern cynicism brought despair about the ability of the human species to realize laudable ideals, postmodern cynicism doesn't — not because it's optimistic, but because it can't take ideals seriously in the first place. The prevailing attitude is Absurdism. A postmodern magazine may be irreverent, but not bitterly irreverent, for it's not purposefully irreverent; its aim is indiscriminate, because everyone is equally ridiculous. And anyway, there's no moral basis for passing judgment. Just sit back and enjoy the show.

  Robert Wright

  Attitude, Optimistic, Despair

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• If cynicism and love lie at opposite ends of a spectrum, do we not sometimes fall in love in order to escape the debilitating cynicism to which we are prone? Is there not in every coup de foudre a certain willful exaggeration of the qualities of the beloved, an exaggeration which distracts us from our habitual pessimism and focuses our energies on someone in whom we can believe in a way we have never believed in ourselves?

  Alain de Botton

  Falling In Love, Lying, Believe

  Alain de Botton (2015). “On Love: A Novel”, p.15, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Promise me, man. If anything ever happens to me, promise me you'll take care of Angelina. She's something special, Micah. Heart way too big for her own good. I worry because she doesn't see everyone for who they are. She's too busy looking for the good. I've tried to get her to adopt some cynicism, but the truth of the matter is, she wouldn't be the same girl if she did.

  Maya Banks

  Girl, Heart, Men

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• It seems to me that election season is just a Petri dish for anger and cynicism.

  Max Lucado

  Election, Dishes, Seasons

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• I like quips. I like whiffs of cynicism and I think they can be witty. But I don't really know where wittiness is constructive.

  Matthew McConaughey

  Witty, Thinking, Constructive

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• among a coward's weapons, cynicism is the nastiest of all

  Tracy Kidder

  Coward, Weapons

  Tracy Kidder (2003). “Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World”, p.241, Random House

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