#cynicism

...[we] has left nothing durable to signalize his stay upon this planet. [we]eventually dies to the honest regret of [our] associates. ↗

— James Branch Cabell

#death #dying #death

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

#humor #humor

Gold was not sure of many things, but he was definite about one: for every successful person he knew, he could name at least two others of greater ability, better, and higher intelligence who, by comparison, had failed. ↗

— Joseph Heller

#intelligence

Life—the way it really is—is a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse ↗

— Joseph Brodsky

#human #life #philosophy #wisdom #life

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

#good-and-evil #idealism #politics #vetinari #life

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. ↗

— Stephen Colbert

#optimism #pessimism #disappointment

Nevertheless, I resist cynicism and continue to believe in the possibilities for genuine democracy. ↗

— William Greider

#continue #cynicism #democracy #genuine #i

I understand the concept of optimism. But I think with me what you get is a lack of cynicism. ↗

— Tom Hanks

#cynicism #get #i #i think #lack

If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign. ↗

— George W. Bush

#come #cynicism #join #politics #polls

Cynicism is intellectual treason. ↗

— Norman Cousins

#intellectual #treason