Baruch Spinoza Quotes

Cynicism is intellectual dandyism.

Intellectuals are too sentimental for me.

Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre [journalists]

The reasoning man who scorns the prejudices of simpletons necessarily becomes the enemy of simpletons; he must expect as much, and laugh at the inevitable.

We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can almost be as stupid as a cabbage as long as you doubt.

People like Bill Maher, who brags about being a cynic, it sickens me. I am the least cynical person I know, and I am very, very skeptical.

Regardless of its causes, thoughtlessly blaming the present is a weakness which, even if it is never outlawed, ought to be resisted. Though commonly flaunted as a sign of sophistication, it can be an opportunity for one-upmanship and an excuse for misanthropy, especially against the young.

A cynic is a man who looks at the world with a monocle in his mind's eye.

Faith is a poison that paralyzes the mind. In all the days of your life, seek knowledge!

We have become so cynical that we are always challenging each other’s motives and in very few instances do we engage in an intelligent argument in the substance of the argument.

I'm not interested in 'lovey dovey,' everything is so great in the world. That doesn't interest me at all.

I know we journalists have a reputation for being cynics. We do. It's our job to question - everything.

I always knew the French had a penchant for criticism and abstract thought. Usually, that just meant they complained a lot.

I'm a natural born skeptic.

Sneering springs out of the wish to deny; and wretched must that state of mind be that wishes to take refuge in doubt.

Why does any kind of cynicism appeal to people? Because it seems like a mark of maturity, of sophistication, like you’ve seen everything and know better. Or because putting something down feels like pushing yourself up.

Philosophy! the lumber of the schools.

I deny nothing, but doubt everything.

Cynicism makes you feel smart, I know it, even when you aren't smart.

Beauty stands In the admiration only of weak minds Led captive.

The modern world tends to be skeptical about everything that makes demands on man's higher faculties. But it is not at all skeptical about skepticism, which demands hardly anything.

Old heads as well as young may sometimes be charged with ignorance and presumption. The natural course of the human mind is certainly from credulity to skepticism.

Whatever is proposed, it is much easier to find reasons for rejecting than embracing.

The wise man tests before he talks. The critic but follows the fad of a cynical and apathetic age.

Cynicism often draws correct conclusions, but nobody could live by its lights.