Cynicism Quotes - Page 9

• Why does any kind of cynicism appeal to people? Because it seems like a mark of maturity, of sophistication, like you’ve seen everything and know better. Or because putting something down feels like pushing yourself up.

  Eliezer Yudkowsky

  Maturity, People, Doe

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• I think that the memory of Armenia's genocide opened my eyes at an early age to the existence of political cynicism.

  Serj Tankian

  Memories, Eye, Thinking

  "‘Screamers’ and Genocide: A Talk With Serj Tankian From System of a Down". Interview with Richard (RJ) Eskow, www.huffingtonpost.com. November 29, 2006.

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• .. if you asked most people whether they believed in love or not, they’d probably say they didn’t. Yet that’s not necessarily what they truly think. It’s just the way they defend themselves against what they want. They believe in it, but pretend they don’t until they’re allowed to. Most people would throw away all their cynicism if they could. The majority just never gets the chance.

  Alain de Botton

  Believe, Thinking, People

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• I can never get used to the fact, though I know it, that women are born cynics. Men have to learn cynicism. Infant girls could teach it to them.

  Ursula K. Le Guin

  Girl, Men, Facts

  Ursula K. Le Guin (2008). “Lavinia”, p.54, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• My gaze flew to him once more,noting the cigarette he set down even as he exhaled a long plume of white."Why are you lying there smoking while I'm chained to a wall?"I demanded.The look he gave me was a mixture of relief and cynicism."Since it seems you don't remember anything about the past two days,let me assure you,luv-I earned that smoke.

  Jeaniene Frost

  Wall, Lying, Past

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

  Colum McCann

  Easy, Optimist, Cynic

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

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• Always forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

  Robert Kennedy

  Forgiveness, Clever, Names

  Quoted in Nancy McPhee, The Second Book of Insults (1981)

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• Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat for it is momentary.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  War, Sunset, Victory And Defeat

  Mahatma Gandhi (1965). “Collected Works”

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• Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

  Barack Obama

  Army, Men, Evil

  Nobel Prize for Peace Acceptance Speech and Lecture, delivered 10 December 2009, Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway

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• The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.

  Jean Giraudoux

  Funny, Trust, Betrayal

  "Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong". Book by Arthur Bloch, p. 47, 1980.

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• Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness.

  Alfred Nobel

  Spiritual, Truth, Veils

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• Be your own hero, it's cheaper than a movie ticket.

  Douglas Horton

  Movie, Hero, Actors

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• If the destination is heaven, why do we scramble to be first in line for hell?

  Douglas Horton

  Heaven, Lines, Firsts

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• The key to heaven's gate cannot be duplicated.

  Douglas Horton

  Keys, Heaven, Gates

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• Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn't matter what it is ... We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result.

  Barack Obama

  Inspirational, Issues, Giving

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• After making several tragic movies in a row, I was looking to do a comedy, and one without cynicism.

  Ang Lee

  Movie, Actors, Comedy

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• Maybe a new religion will rise now. Maybe without it, man will crumble in cynicism and selfishness because he really needs his gods.

  Anne Rice

  Men, Selfishness, Needs

  Anne Rice (2011). “The Vampire Chronicles Collection: Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned”, p.1006, Ballantine Books

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• When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and only then, have you grown old.

  Samuel Ullman

  Heart, Ice, Snow

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• It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.

  Gore Vidal

  Failure, Envy, Political

  Quoted in Newport (R.I.) Daily News, 3 Nov. 1978

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• Cynicism is what passes for insight when courage is lacking

  Anita Roddick

  Real, Insight, Lacking

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• When we only name the problem, when we state complaint without a constructive focus or resolution, we take hope away. In this way critique can become merely an expression of profound cynicism, which then works to sustain dominator culture.

  Bell Hooks

  Expression, Names, Profound

  bell hooks (2013). “Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope”, p.14, Routledge

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• And for adults, the world of fantasy books returns to us the great words of power which, in order to be tamed, we have excised from our adult vocabularies. These words are the pornography of innocence, words which adults no longer use with other adults, and so we laugh at them and consign them to the nursery, fear masking as cynicism. These are the words that were forged in the earth, air, fire, and water of human existence, and the words are: Love. Hate. Good. Evil. Courage. Honor. Truth.

  Jane Yolen

  Hate, Book, Fire

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• You happened to me,You scare me to death, you know. When you stormed into my life, you turned everything inside out. You upset all the things I believed about myself and made me think in new ways. I know who I used to be, but I’m finally ready to figure out who I am. Cynicism gets tiring, Isabel, and you’ve . . . rested me.And don’t you dare tell me you’ve stopped loving me back, because you’re still a better person than I am, and I’m counting on you to take more care with my heart than I took with yours.

  Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  Heart, Thinking, Who I Am

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• A developer is someone who wants to build a house in the woods. An environmentalist is someone who already has a house in the woods.

  Dennis Miller

  House, Want, Woods

  Dennis Miller (2010). “Rants”, p.127, Main Street Books

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• There have been times when a particularly heavy dose of such cynicism has caused me to reflect that surely this is the age and place of the gifted pickle sucker!

  Gordon B. Hinckley

  Age, Pickles, Heavy

  Gordon B. Hinckley (2009). “Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes”, p.116, Harmony

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