Best Cynicism Quotes to Inspire, Uplift & Motivate You Every Day

“Life seemed to him to be a narrow cage, and her iron bars were many and dense, and there was only one way out.”

“Jake was close to tears. In that moment he saw the world in its true light, as a place where nothing had ever been any good and nothing of significance done: no art worth a second look, no philosophy of the slightest appositeness, no law but served the state, no history that gave an inkling of how it had been and what had happened. And no love, only egotism, infatuation and lust.”

“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'.”

“Cynicism places the cynic at the center seat of judgement with the self appointed authority to criticize and condemn.”

“Cynicism is when a small mind and a hurt heart rejects the hope, love, and truth of a big and caring God.”

“...God created the world in six days. On the seventh day, he rested. On the eighth day, he started getting complaints. And it hasn't stopped since.”

“All Hellenistic schools seem to define [wisdom] in approximately the same terms: first and foremost, as a state of perfect peace of mind. From this viewpoint, philosophy appears as a remedy for human worries, anguish, and misery brought about, for the Cynics, by social constraints and conventions; for the Epicureans, by the quest for false pleasures; for the Stoics, by the pursuit of pleasure and egoistic self-interest; and for the Skeptics, by false opinions. Whether or not they laid claim to the Socratic heritage, all Hellenistic philosophers agreed with Socrates that human beings are plunged in misery, anguish, and evil because they exist in ignorance. Evil is to be found not within things, but in the value judgments with people bring to bear”

“To sum it all up, the [Ayn] Rand belief system looks like this:”

“Poverty is a virtue which one can teach oneself.”

“He had a look of composed dissatisfaction, as if he understood life thoroughly.”

“I am a citizen of the world.”

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

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

“You're such a cynic," Molly said.”

“A true friend is a gift from God. Since God doesn't exist, guess what? Neither do true friends.”

“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.”