Explore a collection of the most beloved and motivational quotes and sayings about Cynical. Share these powerful messages with your loved ones on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or on your personal blog, and inspire the world with their wisdom. We've compiled the Top 100 Cynical Quotes and Sayings from 95 influential authors, including Paul Tillich,Aiden Wilson Tozer,W. Somerset Maugham,Stephen Colbert,George Carlin, for you to enjoy and share.

Cynically speaking, one could say that it is true to life to be cynical about it. By Paul Tillich Cynically Speaking True Life Cynical

A thankful heart cannot be cynical. By Aiden Wilson Tozer Cynical Thankful Heart

I haven't deeply considered the matter [...] but if to look truth in the face and not resent it when it's unpalatable, and take human nature as you find it, smiling when it's absurd and grieved without exaggeration when it's pitiful, is to be cynical, then I suppose I'm a cynic. Mostly human nature is both absurd and pitiful, but if life has taught you tolerance you find in it more to smile at than to weep.[The back of beyond] By W. Somerset Maugham Pitiful Human Nature Find Absurd

You seem cynical because you're always talking about that selfish behavior that's dressed up as altruism. It doesn't mean there isn't altruism. It just means that it's harder to make jokes about altruism. By Stephen Colbert Altruism Cynical Talking Selfish Behavior

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. By George Carlin Inside Person Idealist Cynical Disappointed

I really try, at least consciously, not to be cynical or ironic. By Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Consciously Ironic Cynical

The idea that I am cynical because I'm writing the books that I write is a bit like someone saying, 'What, you've done a second album? Oh, I see, cashing in on your first album, are you?' But I'm a musician! It's sort of what I do. By Ben Schott Album Idea Cynical Writing Books

Cynicism is overrated, and far too easy. In small doses, cynicismlike ironyprovides an essential tempering quality. But to wallow in it, and to dismiss things like hope and faith, is cowardly and unoriginal. By Michael Perry Cynicism Overrated Easy Doses Cynicismlike

Cynicism ... is the trade-mark of failure ... By Katherine Cecil Thurston Cynicism Failure Trademark

I understand maybe some people are more impressionable than my hard, cynical self, but maybe they need to figure out how to be less of that. By Jessa Crispin Hard Cynical Understand People Impressionable

It's kind of sad how cynical I've become, but the more I think about it, I wonder how anybody makes it through life without becoming this way. The way I see it, after you make it past the innocence of youth you have one of two choices: you can either become cynical or delusional. I tried delusional for a while. It was sort of nice while it lasted-mainly because I didn't realize I was delusional. But then I woke up. So now I'm cynical. And the universe is once again having its way with me. By P.d. Bekendam Cynical Delusional Kind Sad Life

Never confuse cynicism for intelligence. By Ahmed Al-Sheikh Intelligence Confuse Cynicism

I'm a hopeful cynic. By Tracy Chapman Cynic Hopeful

I may sound very cynical, but a cynic is really a realist. By U.g. Krishnamurti Cynical Realist Sound Cynic

I'm the most cynical person, and I know what that sounds like when you say, I don't drink and drive, and I don't. But I know people look at that with skepticism, and I understand. By Tracey Gold Person Drive Cynical Sounds Drink

I have become cynical because I speak the truth. By Amit Abraham Truth Cynical Speak

I'm not cynical or bitter in any way. Life's too short; you get ripped off, but if you hold a grudge, it's going to affect you. You take it on the chin, you learn, you try not to make the same mistakes. By Tony Fernandes Cynical Bitter Life Short Grudge

Being just a little cynical will make you a much safer optimist. By Lisa Kleypas Optimist Cynical Make Safer

I have never been a cynical person. By Margot Robbie Person Cynical

Did you take lessons in cynical?" "I did, yes. I was so good at it, I now teach 'How to be a cynical jerk' at the local community college. I can get you discount rates if you want. Just tell them I sent you." "And sarcasm?" "Yep, I have my Masters in sarcasm. I can get you a two-for-one deal if you want." Will laughed again. "You would seriously charge me to take one of your hypothetical classes?" "Hypothetical is an extra charge," I told him, sitting down on a bench seat. "And anyway, I have to make a living somehow. I'd consider prostitution, but it's against my moral standing to enjoy my work. By N.r. Walker Cynical Lessons Sarcasm Hypothetical Charge

Cynicism is a powerful anesthetic we use to numb ourselves to pain, but which also, by its nature, numbs us to truth and joy. By Rachel Held Evans Cynicism Pain Nature Joy Powerful

I'm a cynical idealist.' He paused and wondered if that meant anything. By F Scott Fitzgerald Idealist Cynical Paused Wondered Meant

Cynicism makes you feel smart, I know it, even when you aren't smart. By Richard Ford Smart Cynicism Makes Feel

You are a cynical man, Mr. Pleasant." "We live in cynical times, Miss Cain. By Derek Landy Pleasant Man Miss Cain Cynical

Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try. in Good Housekeeping By Peggy Noonan Cynicism Tough Realistic Housekeeping Good

Cynicism is the other thing that goes with sentimentality ... By Margaret Mead Cynicism Sentimentality Thing

Cynicism is easy. An optimist is a braver cynic. By Colum Mccann Cynicism Easy Cynic Optimist Braver

Cynicism is fear posing as confidence; joy is hope let off the leash. By Bob Goff Cynicism Confidence Joy Leash Fear

So don't get cynical. Cynicism didn't put a man on the moon. Cynicism has never won a war, or cured a disease, or built a business, or fed a young mind. Cynicism is a choice. And hope will always be a better choice. By Barack Obama Cynicism Cynical Choice Moon Put

No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up. By Lily Tomlin Matter Cynical

Cynicism is a form of cowardice, a failure of courage to hope. By Merle Shain Cynicism Cowardice Hope Form Failure

Despite appearances I'm not a cynic. I'm a sarcastic pragmatist. By Stephen B5 Jones Cynic Appearances Pragmatist Sarcastic

Cynicism is only intellectual sloth. By Henry Rollins Cynicism Sloth Intellectual

Cynicism is something that is part of the media production of a certain type of subjectivity or consciousness that is passive and disempowered, cynical, fatalistic, pessimistic. By Daniel Pinchbeck Cynical Fatalistic Pessimistic Cynicism Disempowered

Cynicism. I liked that in a man. By Josh Lanyon Cynicism Man

You mistake my jealousy for good old-fashioned cynicism. By Nicole Williams Cynicism Mistake Jealousy Good Oldfashioned

Cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom. By Barack Obama Cynicism Wisdom Kind

I think that if a person doesn't feel cynical then they're out of phase with the 20th century. Being cynical is the only way to deal with modern civilization - you can't just swallow it whole. By Frank Zappa Century Cynical Person Feel Phase

I was going to stop being so cynical but probably nobody would even notice. By Jack Barker Notice Stop Cynical

I am a positive person. I am not cynical. If you are born in this world, no matter who you are, negative things will happen. If you aren't positive as a person, you'll be very unhappy. It's extremely important to be positive, to laugh, to be happy, to accept life as it comes. By Bipasha Basu Person Positive Cynical World Negative

The temptation shared by all forms of intelligence: cynicism. By Albert Camus Cynicism Intelligence Temptation Shared Forms

I'm an eternal optimist with a small degree of cynicism. By Sarah Mclachlan Cynicism Eternal Optimist Small Degree

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. By Eliezer Yudkowsky People Kind Cynicism Appeal Maturity

I oscillate between being cynical and being naive on a regular basis. I always think that not much shocks me until something much too obvious does. By Rabih Alameddine Basis Oscillate Cynical Naive Regular

Generic cynicism makes us feel hip and alternative even as we slip along with our fellow citizens into a morass of indifference. It is your ability to discern facts that makes you an individual, and our collective trust in common knowledge that makes us a society. The individual who investigates is also the citizen who builds. The leader who dislikes the investigators is a potential tyrant. During By Timothy Snyder Makes Generic Indifference Cynicism Feel

Cynicism stems from disappointment. Cynical and faithless people were not always like that. They were filled with possibilities and hope as kids. But they tried and perhaps failed. By Robin S. Sharma Cynicism Disappointment Stems Cynical Kids

One of the saddest things in the world is to see a cynical young person. By Maya Angelou Person Saddest Things World Cynical

I ain't cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin' the truth's not cynical, is it?" "The way you tell it, it is. By Harper Lee Miss Alexandra Cynical Tellin Truth

Cynicism, like gullibility, is a symptom of underdeveloped critical faculties. By Jamie Whyte Cynicism Gullibility Faculties Symptom Underdeveloped

Canadians are tired of being cynical. By Justin Trudeau Canadians Cynical Tired

We can all pretend to be cynical and scheming, but when we're faced with purity and innocence, the cynical mask drops off. By Federico Fellini Scheming Innocence Cynical Pretend Faced

Faith in life, in oneself, in others must be built on the hard rock of realism; that is to say, on the capacity to see evil where it is, to see swindle, destructiveness, and selfishness not only when they are obvious but in their many disguises and rationalizations. Indeed, faith, love, and hope must go together with such a passion for seeing reality in all its nakedness that the outsider would be prone to call the attitude 'cynicism.' And cynical it is, when we mean by it the refusal to be taken in by the sweet and plausible lies that cover almost everything that is said and believed. But this kind of cynicism is not cynicism; it is uncompromisingly critical, a refusal to play the game in a system of deception. By Erich Fromm Faith Destructiveness Life Oneself Realism

I have a lot of friends that take that position of extreme cynicism, and I just can't let myself go to that place. It's just too easy, and it's just too defeatist. By Conor Oberst Cynicism Place Lot Friends Position

Cynicism is a choice. Optimism is a better choice. By Shonda Rhimes Choice Cynicism Optimism

She was smart enough to be cynical yet had nothing to be cynical about. Her By Kodi Scheer Cynical Smart

Cynicism is a boring and dull old man's disease people have no business getting when they're young. By Erika Lopez Cynicism Young Boring Dull Man

Cynicism is for lightweights. By Jewel Cynicism Lightweights

Cynicism is reality with an alternate spelling. By Woody Allen Cynicism Spelling Reality Alternate

learned only later what I'd seen: the manufacture of a term that would be used to increase traffic on the Word Exchange. For some users of the Meme - those whose devices had been infected with a new virus that had recently started circulating - terms like this one would replace "obscure" words - "cynical," "morbid," "integrity" - that those of us who'd grown dependent on our Memes no longer fully trusted to our memories. But I knew nothing then about these neologisms, or the virus, or why this "word" had just been fabricated. By Alena Graedon Exchange Learned Word Manufacture Increase

Cynicism is often the shamefaced product of inexperience. By A.j. Liebling Cynicism Inexperience Shamefaced Product

Cynicism is the intellectual cripple's substitute for intelligence. By Russell Lynes Cynicism Intelligence Intellectual Cripple Substitute

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is a man who sees an absurd value in everything, and doesn't know the market place of any single thing. By Oscar Wilde Cynic Man Darlington Price Sentimentalist

I'm actually equal parts cynicism and apathy. I'm always willing to believe the worst as long as it doesn't take too much effort. By Dennis Miller Apathy Equal Parts Cynicism Effort

Cynicism is just an excuse for not helping. By Marianne Williamson Cynicism Helping Excuse

Cynicism is the only tool that can scrape away the tint off rose-coloured glasses. By Taona Dumisani Chiveneko Cynicism Glasses Tool Scrape Tint

To be cynical is to be distant. While offering a false intimacy of being "in the know," cynicism actually destroys intimacy. It leads to a creeping bitterness that can deaden and even destroy the spirit ... A praying life is just the opposite. It engaged evil. It doesn't take no for an answer. The psalmist was in God's face, hoping, dreaming, asking. Prayer is feisty. Cynicism, on the other hand, merely critiques. It is passive, cocooning itself from the passions of the great cosmic battle we are engaged in. It is without hope. By Paul E. Miller Distant Cynical Intimacy Cynicism Engaged

My whole life has been about confronting cynicism. By Cory Booker Cynicism Life Confronting

I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, but probably not ... I was a really cynical child. By Nikki Reed Supposed Child Cynical

Idealist: a cynic in the making. By Irving Layton Idealist Making Cynic

Cynicism is intellectual dandyism. By George Meredith Cynicism Dandyism Intellectual

Your cynicism lies in your willing abuse of others to consolidate your superiority over them. My cynicism is in regard to humanity's wilful blindness with respect to its own extinction.''Without that wilful blindness there is naught but despair.''Oh, I am not that cynical. In fact, I do not agree at all. Maybe when the wilful blindness runs its inevitable course, there will be born wilful wisdom, the revelation of seeing things as they are.''Things? To which things are you referring, old man?''Why, that everything of true value is, in fact, free. By Steven Erikson Wilful Blindness Things Cynicism Fact

Don't confuse my point of view with cynicism. The real cynics are the ones who tell you that everything's gonna be all right. By George Carlin Cynicism Confuse Point View Real

Cynicism can blind one to subtler virtues By David Mitchell Cynicism Virtues Blind Subtler

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. By Shawn Colvin Cynicism Tough Long Pitiful Life

Are you always so cynical?' said Angelica.'No,' said Katherine. 'Sometimes I'm asleep. By Sam Byers Cynical Angelica Katherine Asleep

I'm rather a cynic, I suppose. I do not believe in the niceness of humanity. By George Macdonald Fraser Cynic Suppose Humanity Niceness

For when cynicism becomes the default language, playfulness and invention become impossible. Cynicism scours through a culture like bleach, wiping out millions of small, seedling ideas. Cynicism means your automatic answer becomes "No." Cynicism means you presume everything will end in disappointment. And this is, ultimately, why anyone becomes cynical. Because they are scared of disappointment. Because they are scared someone will take advantage of them. Because they are fearful their innocence will be used against them - that when they run around gleefully trying to cram the whole world in their mouth, someone will try to poison them. By Caitlin Moran Cynicism Language Playfulness Impossible Default

Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist. By George Carlin Scratch Idealist Cynic Find Disappointed

A cynic is a frustrated idealist. By Al Ruksenas Idealist Cynic Frustrated

Cynicism is kind of like folding your arms and stepping back and commenting on things, like the old guys in 'The Muppets,' just throwing out comments all the time, whereas there are other people on the ground really trying to affect things and improve their lives and the lives of other people. I think it's noble and I think it's cool. By Josh Radnor Muppets People Things Lives Cynicism

Cynicism is extremely contagious, and the most pious among us cannot long endure its potency. The gullible should be on their guard, however, since this endearing quality frequently masquerades as wit. By Mike Corbett Cynicism Contagious Potency Extremely Pious

An idealist who couldn't cope becomes cynical. By Amy Ray Cynical Idealist Cope

Cynic' is a word invented by optimists to criticize realists. By Gregory Benford Cynic Realists Word Invented Optimists

Cynics about government find much to be cynical about. By Alice Rivlin Cynics Government Find Cynical

I need a healthy injection of cynicism right now. By Dylan Moran Healthy Injection Cynicism

Cynicism is often seen as a rebellious attitude in western popular culture, but in reality, our cynicism advances the desires of the powerful: cynicism is obedience. By Alex Steffen Cynicism Culture Reality Powerful Obedience

Cynicism is that blackguard defect of vision which compels us to see the world as it is, instead of as it should be. By Ambrose Bierce Cynicism Blackguard Defect Vision Compels

Cynicism is a choice, and hope is a better choice. By Barack Obama Choice Cynicism Hope

I think cynicism is more enduring than sentimentality. By Alexander Payne Sentimentality Cynicism Enduring

Cynicism is more than a pose; it's also a handy time saver. By deflating your companion's enthusiasm, you can cut conversations in half. By Lisa Birnbach Cynicism Pose Saver Handy Time

I'm consciously shedding the assumption that a skeptical point of view is the most intellectually credible. Intellect does not function in opposition to mystery; tolerance is not more pragmatic than love; and cynicism is not more reasonable than hope. Unlike almost every worthwhile thing in life, cynicism is easy. It's never proven wrong by the corruption or the catastrophe. It's not generative. It judges things as they are, but does not lift a finger to try to shift them. I By Krista Tippett Credible Consciously Shedding Assumption Skeptical

The worst cynicism: a belief in luck. By Joyce Carol Oates Cynicism Luck Worst Belief

False hope really makes you cynical. By Bill Maher False Cynical Hope Makes

Cynicism springs from disappointments in love. By Marty Rubin Cynicism Love Springs Disappointments

I think that cynicism can often be mistaken for wisdom. By Sarah Polley Wisdom Cynicism Mistaken

Cynic' is the sentimentalist's name for the realist. By Carolyn Heilbrun Cynic Realist Sentimentalist

And I get it. I can be cynical myself. Every time I see some smiley TV preacher talk about God's plan for me or hear Sarah Palin say something irretrievably mean and stupid about poor people, or every time I pass an embarrassing billboard featuring Jesus and a fetus, I totally get why reasonable people would keep their distance. By Nadia Bolz-Weber Time People God Sarah Palin

Cynicism-the pus from a wound. By Marty Rubin Cynicismthe Wound Pus

Cynicism is intellectual treason. By Norman Cousins Cynicism Treason Intellectual

If this was cynical, then we must allow that all courtship is cynical. By Zoe Heller Cynical Courtship