Ingmar Bergman Quotes

I've never been an optimist.

I'm a pessimist by nature, so I don't believe something until someone has kind of punched me over the head with it.

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

In fact I thought life was pretty much a losing proposition, and I didn't mind saying so.

The cynics in life are the people who are always trying to do things for people who don't want things done for them.

I was giving up--being realistic, as people liked to say, meaning the same thing. Being realistic made me feel bitter.

I find myself being quite cynical - and I think we all kind of are - towards the idea that it's associated with being a musician; you know... the kind of rock-star attitude. So, I hope that people know it's a joke.

I'm not really one of these people who's been known for particularly hopeful sentiments.

I always feel the cynicism is reality with maybe an alternate spelling or something because I feel that I have real perspective on this particular issue of punishment in society.

Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try. ---in Good Housekeeping

“You don't have much faith in people, do you?” said David. “I don't have much faith in anything,” Roland replied. “Not even in myself.”

Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.

If you handed [character] a glass that was 90% full, he'd tell you that the 10% empty part proved that no one really cared about water.

Young people are cynical about love. Ultimately, cynicism is the great mask of the disappointed and betrayed heart.

I regard these people who are peddling angst and peddling pessimism and all that stuff as so 'two minutes ago'.

Someone once said a cynic is just a disappointed romantic. That really, really sums me up.

Most people are fools, most authority is malignant, God does not exist, and everything is wrong.

I don't consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist. But I understand the word "cynic" has more than one meaning, and I see how I could be seen as cynical. "George, you're cynical." Well, you know, they say if you scratch a cynic you find a disappointed idealist. And perhaps the flame still flickers a little, you know?

Cynicism has its own zealots.

It's hard to argue against cynics - they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side.

Cynicism formulates issues clearly, but only to dismiss them.

I start out by believing the worst

Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create.

I'm too cynical to be an optimist.

The older I've gotten, I really do feel that it's a lack of trust that I see in people and that's why they don't follow their dreams - because they don't trust anything.