Altruism and Cynicism

Tact is the ability to tell a man he has an open mind when he has a hole in his head.

Unknown, in Altruism and Cynicism

Do good by stealth.

Ray Prince, in Altruism and Cynicism

Kindness is the beginning of cruelty.

Frank Herbert, Dune, in Altruism and Cynicism

Welcome thy neighbor into thy fallout shelter. He'll come in handy if you run out of food.

Dean McLaughlin, in Altruism and Cynicism

I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.

Marshall McLuhan, in Altruism and Cynicism

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody is looking.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

Criticism is prejudice made plausible.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

Demagogue: One who preaches a doctrine he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

The cynics are right nine times out of ten.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism

There's always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible, and wrong.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Altruism and Cynicism and Science and Religion

I never know how much of what I say is true.

Bette Midler, in Altruism and Cynicism

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa, in Altruism and Cynicism

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

Mother Teresa, in Altruism and Cynicism

Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness.

Alfred Nobel, in Altruism and Cynicism

A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.

Joan Powers, Pooh's Little Instruction Book, in Altruism and Cynicism

Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.

Ayn Rand, (commencement speech to Naval Academy), in Altruism and Cynicism

In this world, there is one terrible thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.

Jean Renoir, in Altruism and Cynicism

An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

Will Rogers, in Altruism and Cynicism

No guest is so welcome in a friend's house that he will not become a nuisance after three days.

Titus Maccius Plautus, in Altruism and Cynicism

Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.

P. J. O'Rourke, All the Trouble in the World, in Altruism and Cynicism and Work and Recreation