--- title: "4 Cynicism Quotes By John Fowles" description: "4 Cynicism quotes by John Fowles. Plus more from John Fowles and more Cynicism sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/john-fowles-816_article_i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-o_202059.png" --- > [“I had always believed, and not only out of cynicism, that a man and a woman could tell in the first ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-of-cynicism-that-a-man-and-a/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/john-fowles-816_article_i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-o_202059.png) > [...all cynicism masks a failure to cope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/john-fowles-816_cope_all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope-610_610751.png) > [I suppose I'd had, by the standards of that pre-permissive time, a good deal of sex for my age. Girls, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-suppose-i-d-had-by-the-standards-of-that-pre-permissive-time-a-good/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b30/john-fowles-816_age_i-suppose-i-d-had-by-the-standards-of-th_1699673.png) > [I was too green to know that all cynicism masks a failure to cope - an impotence, in short; and that to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-was-too-green-to-know-that-all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope-an/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fc/john-fowles-816_cynicism_i-was-too-green-to-know-that-all-cynicis_1862371.png) ## Other authors on Cynicism - [Wataru Watari 19 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/wataru-watari/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/barack-obama/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-mason-cooley-65303.jpg) Mason Cooley 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/mason-cooley/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-terry-pratchett-89528.jpg) Terry Pratchett 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/terry-pratchett/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-colbert-86965.jpg) Stephen Colbert 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/stephen-colbert/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-george-carlin-37578.jpg) George Carlin 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/george-carlin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-oscar-wilde-72846.jpg) Oscar Wilde 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/oscar-wilde/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ambrose-bierce-12239.jpg) Ambrose Bierce 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/ambrose-bierce/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alain-de-botton-10218.jpg) Alain de Botton 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/alain-de-botton/) ## More by John Fowles > [I am infinitely strange to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-am-infinitely-strange-to-myself/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-do-not-plan-my-fiction-any-more-than-i-normally-plan-woodland-walks/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The sky is absolutely empty. Beautifully pure and empty. As if the architects and builders would live in all the houses they built! Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-sky-is-absolutely-empty-beautifully-pure-and-empty-as-if-the/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The evolution of human mentality has put us all in vitro now, behind the glass wall of our own ingenuity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-evolution-of-human-mentality-has-put-us-all-in-vitro-now-behind/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/most-marriages-recognize-this-paradox-passion-destroys-passion-we/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [That is the great distinction between the sexes. Men see objects, women see the relationships between objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/that-is-the-great-distinction-between-the-sexes-men-see-objects-women/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/there-is-only-one-good-definition-of-god-the-freedom-that-allows/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [They looked down on her; and she looked up through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/they-looked-down-on-her-and-she-looked-up-through-them/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Long afterwards I realized why some men, racing drivers and their like, become addicted to speed. There are those of us who never see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/long-afterwards-i-realized-why-some-men-racing-drivers-and-their-like/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The best wines take the longest to mature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-best-wines-take-the-longest-to-mature/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [But however good you get at translating personality into line or paint it's no go if your personality isn't worth translating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/but-however-good-you-get-at-translating-personality-into-line-or/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Liking other people is an illusion we have to cherish in ourselves if we are to live in society. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/liking-other-people-is-an-illusion-we-have-to-cherish-in-ourselves-if/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Do you know that every great thing in the history of art and every beautiful thing in life is actually what you call nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/do-you-know-that-every-great-thing-in-the-history-of-art-and-every/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Yet this distance, all those abysses unbridged and then unbridgeable by radio, television, cheap travel and the rest, was not wholly bad. People knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/yet-this-distance-all-those-abysses-unbridged-and-then-unbridgeable/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/john-fowles/#itemlist", "name": "4 Cynicism Quotes By John Fowles", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I had always believed, and not only out of cynicism, that a man and a woman could tell in the first ten minutes whether they wanted to go to bed together; and that the time that passed after those first ten minutes represented a tax, which might be worth paying if the article promised to be really enjoyable, but which nine times out of ten became rapidly excessive.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Fowles" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-of-cynicism-that-a-man-and-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/john-fowles-816_article_i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-o_202059.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/john-fowles-816_article_i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-o_202059.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/john-fowles-816_article_i-had-always-believed-and-not-only-out-o_202059.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had always believed, and not only out of cynicism, that a man and a woman could tell in the first ten…” — John Fowles", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...all cynicism masks a failure to cope.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Fowles" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/john-fowles-816_cope_all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope-610_610751.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/john-fowles-816_cope_all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope-610_610751.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b66/john-fowles-816_cope_all-cynicism-masks-a-failure-to-cope-610_610751.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...all cynicism masks a failure to cope.” — John Fowles", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I suppose I'd had, by the standards of that pre-permissive time, a good deal of sex for my age. 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