Cynicism
cur-mudg-eon (cur-muj’un), n. [origin unknown] 1. archaic: a crusty, ill-tempered, churlish old man. 2. modern: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner.
“Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.”
— David T. Wolf
“A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.”
— H. L. Mencken
“My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of the pessimists.”
— Jean Rostand
“No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up.”
— Lily Tomlin
“Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt… Idealists regarded everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves.”
— Robert Anton Wilson
“A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.”
— Sydney J. Harris
“There is so much trouble in coming into the world, and so much more, as well as meanness, in going out of it, that it is hardly worth while to be here at all.”
— 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, Henry St. John
“Cynicism is intellectual dandyism.”
— George Meredith
“The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who don’t have it.”
— George Bernard Shaw
“Cynicism is intellectual treason.”
— Norman Cousins
“It takes a clever man to turn cynic and a wise man to be clever enough not to.”
— Fannie Hurst
“A cynic is just a man who found out when he was ten that there wasn’t any Santa Claus, and he’s still upset.”
— James Cozzens
“I’m a hopeful cynic.”
— Tracy Chapman
