Altruism and Cynicism

We should forgive our enemies, but only after they've been taken out and shot.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

If you were arrested for kindness, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism and Vice and Virtue

I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man's being unable to sit still in a room.

Blaise Pascal, in Altruism and Cynicism

If you want to imagine the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.

George Orwell, 1984, in Altruism and Cynicism

Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.

P. J. O'Rourke, All the Trouble in the World, in Altruism and Cynicism and Work and Recreation

All lies are told with a straight face. It is truth that's said with a dismissive giggle.

P. J. O'Rourke, in Altruism and Cynicism

No guest is so welcome in a friend's house that he will not become a nuisance after three days.

Titus Maccius Plautus, in Altruism and Cynicism

A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.

Joan Powers, Pooh's Little Instruction Book, in Altruism and Cynicism

Do good by stealth.

Ray Prince, in Altruism and Cynicism

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

Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness.

Alfred Nobel, in Altruism and Cynicism

Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.

Lillian Hellman, in Altruism and Cynicism

Kindness is the beginning of cruelty.

Frank Herbert, Dune, in Altruism and Cynicism

By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell -- and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, in Altruism and Cynicism

One nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people.

Lucille S. Harper, in Altruism and Cynicism

He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.

H. H. Munro, in Altruism and Cynicism

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

Mother Teresa, in Altruism and Cynicism

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa, in Altruism and Cynicism

I never know how much of what I say is true.

Bette Midler, in Altruism and Cynicism

I don't want any "yes-men" around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.

Samuel Goldwyn, in Altruism and Cynicism