Aphorisms Galore!

Altruism and Cynicism

173 aphorisms  ·  15 comments

Aphorisms in This Category

tiny.ag/lhf5xdsj  ·  submitted 1997

Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.

Ayn Rand, (commencement speech to Naval Academy), in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/fjkyccqy  ·  submitted 1997

In this world, there is one terrible thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.

Jean Renoir, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/pjkyl6oi  ·  submitted 1997

An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

Will Rogers, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/euochyxn  ·  submitted 1997

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made.

Daniel Schorr, in Altruism and Cynicism and Success and Failure

tiny.ag/q93dw7gi  ·  submitted 1997

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

Albert Schweitzer, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/vgoawlvx  ·  submitted 1997

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.

William Shakespeare, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/lvmeyokh  ·  submitted 1997

Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance.

William Shakespeare, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/ixldmygb  ·  submitted 1997

A reasonable man adapts himself to suit his environment. An unreasonable man persists in attempting to adapt his environment to suit himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw, in Altruism and Cynicism and Vice and Virtue

tiny.ag/7hdzmwue  ·  submitted 1997

It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.

George Bernard Shaw, in Altruism and Cynicism and Vice and Virtue

tiny.ag/itutlzy5  ·  submitted 1997

The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it.

George Bernard Shaw, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/9m1hmtxp  ·  submitted 1997

When a man wants to murder a tiger, it's called sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, it's called ferocity.

George Bernard Shaw, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/9einaqki  ·  submitted 1997

We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?

Jean Cocteau, in Altruism and Cynicism and Success and Failure

tiny.ag/vlei56tn  ·  submitted 1997

Every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce life early and the human race come to an end.

Joseph Conrad, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/mjjtqyix  ·  submitted 1997

An excuse is the mark of a moral coward.

Joseph Cimino, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/g7qmt4qj  ·  submitted 1997

Welcome thy neighbor into thy fallout shelter. He'll come in handy if you run out of food.

Dean McLaughlin, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/avosjwgh  ·  submitted 1997

I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.

Marshall McLuhan, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/tnirgb8y  ·  submitted 1997

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody is looking.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/jwmd8ebc  ·  submitted 1997

Criticism is prejudice made plausible.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/jcmyu3ji  ·  submitted 1997

Demagogue: One who preaches a doctrine he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/7gz85bqy  ·  submitted 1997

The cynics are right nine times out of ten.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism