Cynicism Quotes - page 2

We must rekindle the fire of idealism in our society, for nothing suffocates the promise of America more than unbounded cynicism and indifference. (Joe Biden)
Cynicism is easy. An optimist is a braver cynic. View quote
Colum McCann
You're killing yourself with cynicism. Your idols got taken away from you one by one and now you have nothing to give your love to. View quote
Philip K. Dick
Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent. View quote
Glen Cook
Most of the books and films I love walk a knife edge between romance and cynicism, and I wanted 'One Day' to stay on that line. I wanted it to be moving, but without being manipulative. View quote
David Nicholls
It is only the cynicism that is born of success that is penetrating and valid. View quote
George Jean Nathan
Cynicism was a one-way path, and once taken the way back was lost forever. View quote
Chris Wooding
I read some of my stories recently and thought, 'How in the hell did I get away with that?' I had some really raw cynicism in some of them. View quote
Carl Barks
Optimism with some experience behind it is much more energizing than plain old experience with a certain degree of cynicism. View quote
Twyla Tharp
America is the greatest, freest and most decent society in existence. It is an oasis of goodness in a desert of cynicism and barbarism. This country, once an experiment unique in the world, is now the last best hope for the world. View quote
Dinesh D'Souza
If youre going to reach for it, reach all the way for it. Albums like Purple Rain and Thriller and those kind of records, you had to reach far above the din of cynicism and modern living to get to that place, against all the odds. (Dave Sitek)
For a poet to depict a poet in poetry is a hazardous experiment; in regarding one's own trade a sense of humour and a little wholesome cynicism are not amiss. View quote
Edward Dowden
I think a lot of cynicism has dropped away from my shoulders since I stopped drinking. View quote
Graham Coxon
I think the most dangerous influence for a young writer is to be treated with cynicism or discouragement. View quote
Jane Gardam
I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's active disengagement. View quote
Ken Burns
People have moved beyond apathy, beyond skepticism into deep cynicism. View quote
Elliot Richardson
It's a wonderful thing working with young actors. I know a lot of people don't like working with children. I actually adore it, because you watch their imagination open up and you watch them start to learn this job that I've been doing for so long. They come with such a lack of cynicism. View quote
Michelle Forbes
Another cause for the increase in alienation and cynicism is a feeling that too many policy decisions that affect individuals have been taken out of any system that has accountability or that they can influence. View quote
Robert Teeter
Cynicism is tough. A cynic's point of view is really pitiful. I derive pleasure out of a lot of things in life. As long as I'm fairly healthy, it's hard to stay dismal for very long. View quote
Shawn Colvin
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. View quote
Samuel Ullman
Optimism' is the perfect way to trivialize everything that Reagan was or did. [...] Optimism? Every other person on the No. 6 bus is an optimist. What distinguished Reagan was what he did and said. Reagan was optimistic about America amid the cynicism and general retreat of the post-Vietnam era because he believed unfashionably that America was both great and good. (Charles Krauthammer)
Subsequent hearings have presented to the public a vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis. Such hearings serve little educative function, except perhaps to reinforce lessons of cynicism that citizens often glean from government. Neither can such hearings contribute toward an evaluation of the Court and a determination whether the nominee would make it a better or worse institution. A process so empty may seem ever so tidy - muted, polite, and restrained - but all that good order comes at great cost. View quote
Elena Kagan
The cynicism that you have is not your real soul. View quote
Yoko Ono
Scientists are skeptics. It's unfortunate that the word 'skeptic' has taken on other connotations in the culture involving nihilism and cynicism. Really, in its pure and original meaning, it's just thoughtful inquiry. View quote
Michael Shermer
Do we refer to the purposes of the Charter? They are expressions of universally shared ideals which cannot fail us, though we, alas, often fail them. Or do we think of the institutions of the United Nations? They are our tools. We fashioned them. We use them. It is our responsibility to remedy any flaws there may be in them.... This is a difficult lesson for both idealists and realists, though for different reasons. I suppose that, just as the first temptation of the realist is the illusion of cynicism, so the first temptation of the idealist is the illusion of Utopia. View quote
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