A cynic is just a man who found out when he was about ten that there wasn't any Santa Claus, and he's still upset.
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future. - Sidney J. Harris
An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run. - Sydney J. Harris
The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not. - Eric Hoffer
Only a cynic can create horror--for behind every masterpiece of the sort must reside a driving demonic force that despises the human race and its illusions, and longs to pull them to pieces and mock them. - H.P. Lovecraft
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. - H. L. Mencken
Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. - Ambrose Bierce
Cynicism places the cynic at the center seat of judgement with the self appointed authority to criticize and condemn. - Jayce O'Neal
I am no nihilist. I am not even a cynic. I am, actually, rather romantic. And here’s my idea of romance: You will soon be dead. Life will sometimes seem long and tough and, god, it’s tiring. And you will sometimes be happy and sometimes sad. And then you’ll beold. And then you’ll be dead. - Tim Minchin
A cynic is a person who sees things as it is; he has no concept of future or past. - Debasish Mridha
She might be a natural-born cynic, but she knew the right word when she heard it. - Kate DiCamillo
The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is a human owl, vigilant in darkness, and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. - Henry Ward Beecher
A Cynic is what an Optimist calls a Realist
A cynic always focuses on problems and not on possibilities. - Debasish Mridha
...the player who looks least engaged may be the most committed member of the group. A cynic, after all, is a passionate person who does not want to be disappointed again. - Benjamin Zander
There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. - Maya Angelou
Never be a cynic, even a gentle one. Never help out a sneer, even at the devil. - Vachel Lindsay
Anyone can be an idealist. Anyone can be a cynic. The hard part lies somewhere in the middle i.e. being human. - Hugh Macleod
There is nothing quite so tragic as a young cynic, because it means the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. - Maya Angelou
I'm not a cynic. I am a realist. - Sonya Watson
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. - Oscar Wilde
The cynic sees only cynicism, the depressive can taint creation with one glance - Anna Funder