Cynicism Quotes - Page 16

• It is a peculiarity of the American mind that it regards any excursion into the truth as an adventure into cynicism.

  H. L. Mencken

  Adventure, Mind, Regard

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• It is cynicism, and not idealism, that is generally the mark of youthful immaturity, or rather it is the cynic who is generally the most foolish romantic.

  Andrew Sarris

  Immaturity, Foolish, Mark

  Andrew Sarris (1996). “The American cinema: directors and directions, 1929-1968”, Da Capo Pr

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• There's nothing more painful than something that's superficially upbeat but you can kind of tell behind it that there's a cynicism, or even a bitterness.

  Grant-Lee Phillips

  Bitterness, Kind, Painful

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• When all is said and done, no literature can outdo the cynicism of real life; you won't intoxicate with one glass someone who has already drunk up a whole barrel.

  Anton Chekhov

  Real, Glasses, Drunk

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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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• Laughing at someone else is an excellent way of learning how to laugh at oneself; and questioning what seem to be the absurd beliefs of another group is a good way of recognizing the potential absurdity of many of one's own cherished beliefs.

  Gore Vidal

  Sarcasm, Laughing, Way

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• Some reviewers have read this as cynicism but I don't see it that way. When I say "I am so sick / of pretending to be me," it's exhaustion at the everyday performance, in life, in art, even in our most intimate encounters.

  Randall Mann

  Art, Sick, Everyday

  Source: therumpus.net

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• There's a fine line between participation and mockery.

  Scott Adams

  Criticism, Lines, Fine

  Scott Adams (2007). “Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!: Cartoonist Explains Cloning, Blouse Monsters, Voting Machines, Romance, Monkey G ods, How to Avoid Being Mistaken for a Rodent, and More”, p.440, Penguin

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• Cynicism is cheap - you can buy it at any Monoprix store - it's built into all poor-quality goods.

  Graham Greene

  Quality Goods, Poor Quality, Stores

  GRAHAM GREENE (1966). “THE COMEDIANS”

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• The bleakness of what faces us is difficult to swallow. As long as we engage in happy platitudes and a false kind of vision of the possible, it may empower you over the short term, but it is eventually, because of the reality in front of us, going to lead to despair and cynicism and apathy. It's better to swallow hard the bitter pill of what we're up against.

  Chris Hedges

  Reality, Long, Empowering

  Interview with David Barsamian, www.sharedhost.progressive.org. July 14, 2011.

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• We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs.

  Kenneth Clark

  Motivational, Attitude, Inspiration

  Kenneth Clark (2015). “Civilisation”, p.220, Hachette UK

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• If you keep on excusing, you eventually give your blessing to the slave camp, to cowardly force, to organized executioners, to the cynicism of great political monsters; you finally hand over your brothers.

  Albert Camus

  Brother, Blessing, Hands

  Albert Camus (2012). “Resistance, Rebellion, and Death: Essays”, p.231, Vintage

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• Everything is cyclical. Historical eras go through times of intense cynicism, broken by periods of intense idealism.

  Lauren Groff

  Broken, Historical, Eras

  Interview with Jason Skipper, therumpus.net. August 24, 2012.

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• The low-hanging fruit is cynicism and pessimism, and it's there if you want it. You can reach out and you can grab it, you don't even have to make any effort.

  Emilio Estevez

  Effort, Want, Fruit

  "Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez". The Tavis Smiley Show, www.pbs.org. October 19, 2011.

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• I'm a silly guy, I love wit and cynicism and sarcasm.

  Columbus Short

  Silly, Sarcasm, Guy

  Interview with Nell Minow, moviemom.maxlazebnik.com. December 2, 2009.

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• Cynicism, disillusionment, and a dispiriting sense of purposeless has cast a shadow over American society seriously draining it of any language or vision that might imagine a different sort of society from the dysfunctional, militarizing, and deeply unequal social order that marked the current historical period.

  Henry Giroux

  Order, Historical, Vision

  "Higher Education Under Attack: An Interview With Henry A. Giroux". Interview with C. Cryn Johannsen, www.truth-out.org. April 22, 2011.

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• Energy always flows either toward hope, community, love, generosity, mutual recognition, and spiritual aliveness or it flows toward despair, cynicism, fear that there is not enough, paranoia about the intentions of others, and a desire to control.

  Michael Lerner

  Spiritual, Fear, Generosity

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• Speaking as someone who bought the party line for far too long, you would be amazed what you can believe if you keep convincing yourself the press, the libs, the universities - hell, everyone but a few on the religious fringe and big business - are out to get you. I was lucky - I started to snap out of this a couple of years ago and hopefully will now apply to both major parties the same skepticism and cynicism I had in the past reserved for Democrats.

  John Cole

  Religious, Couple, Party

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• Without the truth of the people, politics degenerates into mere spectacle and democracy declines, leaving demagoguery and cynicism to fill the void.

  Jerry Brown

  People, Leaving, Democracy

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• What seems conceit, bad manners or cynicism is always a sign of things no ear have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone.

  Lucinda Williams

  War, Eye, Ears

  Source: www.abc.net.au

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• Each of us must work to become a hardheaded realist, or else we risk wasting our time and energy on pursuing impossible dreams. Yet constant naysayers pursue no less impossible dreams. Their fear and cynicism move nothing forward. They kill progress. How many cynics built empires, great cities, or powerful corporations?

  Colin Powell

  Dream, Powerful, Moving

  Colin Powell (2012). “It Worked for Me (Enhanced Edition): In Life and Leadership”, Harper Collins

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• A person is as young as their dreams and as old as their cynicism.

  Tony Campolo

  Dream, Young, Persons

  Tony Campolo (2000). “Let Me Tell You a Story: Life Lessons from Unexpected Places and Unlikely People”, p.69, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• One person's magical thinking is another person's cynicism.

  Damon Lindelof

  Thinking, Persons, Magical Thinking

  "Damon Lindelof on ‘The Leftovers’: ‘I’m fighting for the life of the show’". Interview with Alan Sepinwall, uproxx.com. December 6, 2015.

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• If I'm jetlagging, and I've missed some meals, and it gets to that point in a movie that you're supposed to cry, I'll let my defences down from around my inherent standing level of cynicism, and I'll cry.

  Henry Rollins

  Meals, Levels, Cry

  "One last thing ... Henry Rollins". Interview with Rich Pelley, www.theguardian.com. April 24, 2010.

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• I believe I'm growing skeptical of cynicism.

  Chuck Lorre

  Believe, Growing, Skeptical

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