Aphorisms Galore!

Altruism and Cynicism

173 aphorisms  ·  15 comments

Aphorisms in This Category

tiny.ag/ywjorl1b  ·  submitted 1997

When the government fears the people, we have liberty. When the people fear the government, we have tyranny.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism and Law and Politics

tiny.ag/mgrteolp  ·  submitted 2011 by peter

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Robert J. Hanlon, in Altruism and Cynicism and Vice and Virtue

tiny.ag/ajwgbtvf  ·  submitted 1997

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

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism and Vice and Virtue

tiny.ag/siw5bfv8  ·  submitted 1997

Love many, trust few, and always paddle your own canoe.

Unknown, (old family saying from Ireland), in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/cercjjq0  ·  submitted 1997

Love your enemies: they'll go crazy trying to figure out what you're up to.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/r1bfukdv  ·  submitted 1997

Few things are harder to put up with than a good example.

Mark Twain, in Altruism and Cynicism

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.

Mark Twain, in Altruism and Cynicism

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.

Mark Twain, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/kf8mzunf  ·  submitted 1997

Don't tell any big lies today. Small ones can be just as effective.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/xjumrw8y  ·  submitted 1997

Everything is controlled by a small evil group to which, unfortunately, no one we know belongs.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/e6ekgqrh  ·  submitted 1997

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/xl1yrua8  ·  submitted 1997

George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but he also admitted doing it. Now, do you know why his father didn't punish him? Because George still had the axe in his hand.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/p7q95xlg  ·  submitted 1997

Hypocrisy is the vaseline of social intercourse.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/asecpbyl  ·  submitted 1997

A cynic is a person searching for an honest man, with a stolen lantern.

Edgar A. Shoaff, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/0ihiksxu  ·  submitted 1997

On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks.

H. Allen Smith, Let the Crabgrass Grow, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/dtxsg5kf  ·  submitted 1997

A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is statistics.

Josef Stalin, in Altruism and Cynicism and Life and Death

tiny.ag/kdbyxotm  ·  submitted 1997

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

John Steinbeck, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/dxokyfu8  ·  submitted 1997

It's better to be quotable than to be honest.

Tom Stoppard, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/np9dvtka  ·  submitted 1997

Ninety percent of everything is crap.

Theodore Sturgeon, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/vinogpxg  ·  submitted 1997

A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.

Bert Leston Taylor, in Altruism and Cynicism