Aphorisms Galore!

Altruism and Cynicism

173 aphorisms  ·  15 comments

Aphorisms in This Category

tiny.ag/vwaksnik  ·  submitted 1997

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

Oscar Wilde, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/0fxuodhb  ·  submitted 1997

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Oscar Wilde, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/knyvxbon  ·  submitted 1997

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.

Oscar Wilde, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/9djxhqx6  ·  submitted 1997

If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

Earl Wilson, in Altruism and Cynicism and Life and Death

tiny.ag/td1vfiu9  ·  submitted 1997

Cynics regard everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regard everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves.

Robert Anton Wilson, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/uapy9tbq  ·  submitted 1997

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/4tfl7wlh  ·  submitted 1997

Never insult an alligator until after you have crossed the river.

Cordel Hull, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/mtktl96r  ·  submitted 1997

Whatever is not nailed down is mine. What I can pry loose is not nailed down.

Collis P. Huntington, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/gvohc8br  ·  submitted 1997

In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments -- there are consequences.

Robert G. Ingersoll, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/poggndv0  ·  submitted 1997

Be polite to all, but intimate with few.

Thomas Jefferson, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/rxmfom0a  ·  submitted 1997

The relationship between truth and a newspaper is like the relationship between the color green and the number seven. Occasionally you will see the number seven written in green, but you learn not to expect this.

Garrison Keillor, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/tnwmsadk  ·  submitted 1997

Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

Thomas Jones, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/pl60skge  ·  submitted 1997

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

Alfred Nobel, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/458vctqs  ·  submitted 1997

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

tiny.ag/3vps8ao4  ·  submitted 1998 by Caleb Ronsen

1984 (paperback)

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

George Orwell, 1984, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/aoh5h6tb  ·  submitted 1999

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

tiny.ag/4eq50acu  ·  submitted 1997

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

tiny.ag/crm6g7ll  ·  submitted 1997

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

Mother Teresa, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/rxylykkp  ·  submitted 1997

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

Mother Teresa, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/xhg05ovb  ·  submitted 1997

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

Bette Midler, in Altruism and Cynicism