Irving Layton Quotes

You can't be idealistic in this world and not be crazy.

I know how ridiculous this sounds because of the job I do but I don't believe in romanticism and make-believe.

I guess I don't have a grandiose view of the world in general, and I never believe it when someone else has a grandiose moment.

I'm an idealist without illusions.

I am not an idiot, and I'm not a Pollyanna sort of kumbaya type.

I'm a realist.

Remember, beneath every cynic there lies a romantic, and probably an injured one.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

I went around in my teens and early 20s thinking that life was a con trick. I had managed to grow up believing in all sorts of romantic ideas about hard work and justice and truth, and it seemed the real world was much more complicated and shaded than I wanted to believe.

The problem with Raven is that she's so smart, so sometimes it's hard for her to be hopeful or idealistic, because she's so realistic. So even if she's working on a solution, she's not proud of it until it's concrete.

Cynic: an idealist whose rose-colored glasses have been removed, snapped in two and stomped into the ground, immediately improving his vision

God save me from idealists.

Cynic' is the sentimentalist's name for the realist.

I think I probably hoped for it a little bit, but I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist... or maybe even a pessimist.

I would say that I am a jaded man beyond most expectations, but, like everyone else, I still have hope.

Cynicism stems from disappointment. Cynical and faithless people were not always like that. They were filled with possibilities and hope as kids. But they tried and perhaps failed.

I understand the concept of optimism. But I think with me what you get is a lack of cynicism.

The more cynical you become, the better off you'll be.

I'm a hopeful cynic.

I've never understood the division between so-called realists and so-called idealists.

An idealist believes the short run doesn’t count. A cynic believes the long run doesn’t matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.

We suppose mankind more honest than they are.

I consider myself a realist.

A cynical young person is almost the saddest sight to see, because it means that he or she has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.