Altruism and Cynicism
173 aphorisms · 15 comments
Aphorisms in This Category
1–20 (174)
tiny.ag/7do2rifh · submitted 1997
The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.
Mark Twain, What is Man?, 1906, in Altruism and Cynicism
tiny.ag/ne1vhxlr · submitted 1997
Never tell the truth to those unworthy of it.
tiny.ag/gymh6otw · submitted 1997
Man is the only animal that blushes -- or needs to.
tiny.ag/sdmeheo7 · submitted 1997
I am prepared to meet anyone, but whether anyone is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
tiny.ag/q6kxew3z · submitted 1997
Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.
tiny.ag/r1bfukdv · submitted 1997
Few things are harder to put up with than a good example.
tiny.ag/wqt4ciab · submitted 1997
A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.
tiny.ag/dfwohelg · submitted 1997
It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.
tiny.ag/hq8w7xao · submitted 1997
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
tiny.ag/apirm627 · submitted 1997
You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
tiny.ag/vinogpxg · submitted 1997
A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.
tiny.ag/q93dw7gi · submitted 1997
Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.
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/vgoawlvx · submitted 1997
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.
tiny.ag/lvmeyokh · submitted 1997
Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance.
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.
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.
tiny.ag/dxokyfu8 · submitted 1997
It's better to be quotable than to be honest.
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