James_Miller comments on Rationality Quotes November 2009 - Less Wrong

8 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 29 November 2009 11:36PM

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Comment author: James_Miller 30 November 2009 03:39:50AM 8 points [-]

A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.

From the Yes, Minister TV show.

Comment author: gwern 30 November 2009 02:48:58PM 4 points [-]

"Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth."

--Lillian Hellman, The Little Foxes (1939)

Comment author: Psychohistorian 01 December 2009 06:02:30AM * 3 points [-]

Cynic. n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees the world the way it is, instead of the way it is supposed to be.

-Ambrose Bierce

Comment author: wedrifid 30 November 2009 03:57:04AM 2 points [-]

It's a good quote. But I say combining the latter two gives the first.