“Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral.”
Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State
As quoted in Sketchbook 1966-1971 (1971) by Max Frisch, p. 230
1970s
(Virgil, to Lavinia) p. 45
Lavinia (2008)
“Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral.”
Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State
As quoted in Sketchbook 1966-1971 (1971) by Max Frisch, p. 230
1970s
Lindsey Davis book Last Act in Palmyra
Last Act in Palmyra
Context: I asked why Grumio had had to turn to lesser things.'No call. In my father or grandfather's day all I would have needed in life were my cloak and shoes, my flask and strigil, a cup and knife to take to dinner, and a small wallet for my earnings. Everyone who could find the wherewithal would eagerly ask a wandering jokesmith in.'
'Sounds just like being a vagrant philosopher!'
'A cynic,' he agreed readily. 'Exactly. Most cynics are witty and all clowns are cynical. Meet us on the road, and who could tell the difference?’
'Me, I hope! I'm a good Roman. I'd take a five-mile detour to avoid a philosopher.'</p
Billy Bragg (1957) English singer-songwriter and left-wing political activist
From Curtis, Hillman, MTIV, Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer (Indianapolis: New Riders, 2002), page 221.
“The only deadly sin I know is cynicism.”
Henry L. Stimson (1867–1950) United States Secretary of War
On Active Service in Peace and War (1948), Introduction
W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British playwright, novelist, short story writer
Source: Cakes and Ale: Or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard (1930), p. 137
Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States
2010s, Commencement speech for Oberlin College Prep graduates (2015)