Aphorisms Galore!

Altruism and Cynicism

173 aphorisms  ·  15 comments

Aphorisms in This Category

tiny.ag/u1edofwc  ·   Fair (103 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

One nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people.

Lucille S. Harper, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/q5s2gnzy  ·   Fair (76 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.

Ann Landers, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/0iltdhzx  ·   Fair (341 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.

Adolf Hitler, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/znd6chuu  ·   Fair (309 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.

Adolf Hitler, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/dochckvh  ·   Fair (862 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Mein Kampf (paperback)

By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell -- and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/sq9g8eav  ·   Fair (3330 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Dune (paperback)

Kindness is the beginning of cruelty.

Frank Herbert, Dune, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/iobj0muk  ·   Fair (476 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.

Lillian Hellman, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/7guwnmr1  ·   Fair (879 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

I don't want any "yes-men" around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.

Samuel Goldwyn, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/6jxieopf  ·   Fair (466 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

A bore is a man who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.

Gian Vincenzo Gravina, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/mcsdq3k5  ·   Fair (117 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

A learned County Court judge in a book of memoirs recently said that the overwhelming amount of his time on the bench was taken up "with people who are persuaded by persons whom they do not know to enter into contracts that they do not understand to purchase goods that they do not want with money that they have not got."

Lord Greene, in Altruism and Cynicism and Law and Politics

tiny.ag/gu6tloek  ·   Fair (298 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.

Simon Cameron, in Altruism and Cynicism and Law and Politics

tiny.ag/lgolcdhe  ·   Fair (147 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Getting caught is the mother of invention.

Robert Byrne, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/pbhm4rie  ·   Fair (396 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.

Samuel Butler, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/43mefad8  ·   Fair (157 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

All government -- indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act -- is founded on compromise and barter.

Edmund Burke, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/ahfxksue  ·   Fair (331 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

You can't be truly rude until you understand good manners.

Rita Mae Brown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/fmchbiz9  ·   Fair (387 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.

Rita Mae Brown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/764yzbuo  ·   Fair (233 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.

A. Whitney Brown, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/kje1nil8  ·   Fair (339 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

Grub first, then ethics.

Bertolt Brecht, in Altruism and Cynicism

tiny.ag/nsami72o  ·   Fair (1208 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it.

Ashleigh Brilliant, Brilliant Thoughts (copyright info: www.ashleighbrilliant.com), in Altruism and Cynicism and Law and Politics

tiny.ag/co7binat  ·   Fair (223 ratings)  ·  submitted 1997

The simplest act of surrealism is to walk out into the street, gun in hand, and shoot at random.

André Breton, in Altruism and Cynicism