Cynicism Quotes

“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”
― Oscar Wilde

“By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing.
And he vows his passion is,
Infinite, undying.
Lady make note of this --
One of you is lying.”
― Dorothy Parker

“Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.”
― George Carlin

“Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things. Saying “yes” is how things grow. Saying “yes” leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say “yes'.”
― Stephen Colbert

“If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

“All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism, for the record, it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”
― Conan O'Brien

“As my father always used to tell me, 'You see, son, there's always someone in the world worse off than you.' And I always used to think, 'So?”
― Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

“In the depths of my heart I can’t help being convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless.”
― Sigmund Freud, Letters of Sigmund Freud, 1873-1939;

“Life—the way it really is—is a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse”
― Joseph Brodsky

“I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are good people and bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.”
― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

“Show me somebody who is always smiling, always cheerful, always optimistic, and I will show you somebody who hasn't the faintest idea what the heck is really going on.”
― Mike Royko

“There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli

“Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent.”
― Glen Cook, Shadow Games

“A true friend is a gift from God. Since God doesn't exist, guess what? Neither do true friends.”
― Scott Dikkers, You Are Worthless: Depressing Nuggets of Wisdom Sure to Ruin Your Day

“It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours.”
― Diogenes of Sinope

“I don't "lol". I tried it once but it just didn't agree with me.”
― R.D. Ronald

“I'm not into this whole "move with the times" thing. I reckon we should just decide on a year and stick with it.”
― R.D. Ronald

“Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist — someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations.”
― Peter Senge

“A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims

“I'm not ready to let the youthful part of myself go yet. If maturity means becoming a cynic, if you have to kill the part of yourself that is naive and romantic and idealistic - the part of you that you treasure most - to claim maturity, is it not better to die young but with your humanity intact?”
― Kenneth Cain, Emergency Sex: And Other Desperate Measures

“It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.”
― Diogenes of Sinope

“Constantly exposing yourself to popular culture and the mass media will ultimately shape your reality tunnel in ways that are not necessarily conducive to achieving your Soul Purpose and Life Calling. Modern society has generally ‘lost the plot’. Slavishly following its false gods and idols makes no sense in a spiritually aware life.”
― Anthon St. Maarten

“Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.”
― Alain de Botton

“You're such a cynic," Molly said.

"I think cynics are playful and cute.”
― Jim Butcher, Changes

“Life is serious but art is fun!”
― John Irving

“Why do we call all our generous ideas illusions, and the mean ones truths?”
― Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth

“Rich men have dreams. Poor men die to make them come true.”
― Glen Cook, Water Sleeps

“Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness.”
― T.H. White, Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me

“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, On Love

“All I have to be thankful for in this world is that I was sitting down when my garter busted.”
― Dorothy Parker, The Portable Dorothy Parker