There is nothing quite so tragic as a young cynic, because it means the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Youthful cynicism is sad to observe, because it indicates not so much knowledge learned from bitter experiences as insufficient trust even to attempt the future.

There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.

The cynic suffers the form of faith without love. Incredulity is his piety.

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.

A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

He's the victim of a critical age; he has ceased to believe in himself and he doesn't know what to believe in.

A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. [Answering the question, what is a cynic?]

He that knew all that ever Learning writ, </br>Knew only this - that he knew nothing yet.

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.

Don’t be afraid to be a fool. 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.

He seems to me a very foolish man, and very wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear.

The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into two classes — openly bad and secretly bad.

He was a cynic and like most cynics, totally selfish and self-indulgent.