--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cynics are - beneath it all - only…" description: "\"Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg" --- # Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with… ![“Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg) > “Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often criticize others while secretly sharing similar high expectations and ideals. **In simple terms:** Critics hide their own lofty standards. Key Takeaway Recognize and temper your own expectations. Themes psychology criticism idealism Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - personal relationships - workplace dynamics - self-improvement - leadership Key Concepts self-awareness social perception human nature Questions to Reflect On - Do you project your own standards onto others? - How can you balance idealism with practicality? A Different Perspective Idealism can be unrealistic and alienate others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cynicism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/) [Cynics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynics/) [High standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-standards/) [Idealist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealist/) [Idealists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealists/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) ## Related quotes > [“Cynics are, in the end, only idealists with awkwardly high standards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/cynics-are-in-the-end-only-idealists-with-awkwardly-high-standards/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [That said, deciding to avoid other people does not necessarily equate with having no desire whatsoever for company; it may simply reflect a dissatisfaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/that-said-deciding-to-avoid-other-people-does-not-necessarily-equate/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [These Utopian idealists like the Clintons who think they really do have the answers. They think they're following the best minds of their generation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/these-utopian-idealists-like-the-clintons-who-think-they-really-do/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [Finally, the president added, 'The American people are idealists, but they also want their leaders to be realistic...'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-woodward/finally-the-president-added-the-american-people-are-idealists-but/) [Bob Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-woodward/) > [Questioning growth is deemed to be the act of lunatics, idealists and revolutionaries. But question it we must.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-jackson/questioning-growth-is-deemed-to-be-the-act-of-lunatics-idealists-and/) [Tim Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-jackson/) > [All idealists imagine that the causes they serve are fundamentally better than any other causes in the world, and they refuse to believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-idealists-imagine-that-the-causes-they-serve-are-fundamentally/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The college idealists who fill the ranks of the environmental movement seem willing to do absolutely anything to save the biosphere, except take science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-college-idealists-who-fill-the-ranks-of-the-environmental/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've never understood the division between so-called realists and so-called idealists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-ve-never-understood-the-division-between-so-called-realists-and-so/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [The universalists, the idealists, the Utopians all aim too high. They give promises of an unattainable paradise, and by doing so they deceive mankind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-universalists-the-idealists-the-utopians-all-aim-too-high-they/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [God save me from idealists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/god-save-me-from-idealists/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“Idealists are either blind or clowns; because they think it is possible to have a beautiful world with asshole creatures like humans.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/idealists-are-either-blind-or-clowns-because-they-think-it-is/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Anyone too undisciplined, too self-righteous or too self-centered to live in the world as it is has a tendency to idealize a world which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/anyone-too-undisciplined-too-self-righteous-or-too-self-centered-to/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [It is always easy to divide the world into idealists and power-oriented people. The idealists are presumed to be the noble people, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/it-is-always-easy-to-divide-the-world-into-idealists-and-power/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [Neither idealists nor materialists are right; we must take both idea and expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/neither-idealists-nor-materialists-are-right-we-must-take-both-idea/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Teachers are by nature idealists, and they believe anything can be learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wiggs/teachers-are-by-nature-idealists-and-they-believe-anything-can-be/) [Susan Wiggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wiggs/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Cynicism quotes > [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/) [Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/) > [“Wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one fills up faster.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noelle-oxenhandler/wish-in-one-hand-shit-in-the-other-see-which-one-fills-up-faster/) Noelle Oxenhandler > [There's a distinct unease about Americans when they are outside the United States. I can't say quite what it is, but they are easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/there-s-a-distinct-unease-about-americans-when-they-are-outside-the/) [Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/) > [If you're going to reach for it, reach all the way for it. Albums like 'Purple Rain' and 'Thriller' and those kind of records,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-sitek/if-you-re-going-to-reach-for-it-reach-all-the-way-for-it-albums-like/) [Dave Sitek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-sitek/) > [There have been times when a particularly heavy dose of such cynicism has caused me to reflect that surely this is the age and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/there-have-been-times-when-a-particularly-heavy-dose-of-such-cynicism/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [The larger an English industry was, the more likely it was to go bankrupt, because the English were not naturally corporate people; they disliked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-larger-an-english-industry-was-the-more-likely-it-was-to-go/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/cynicism-masquerades-as-wisdom-but-it-is-the-farthest-thing-from-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I think growing up in Indiana prepares anyone for a life in comedy. I do feel like there is a certain kind of self-effacing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gaffigan/i-think-growing-up-in-indiana-prepares-anyone-for-a-life-in-comedy-i/) [Jim Gaffigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-gaffigan/) > [“That's what I've never been able to get about religion: that charmless combination of altruism and insanity. Give me a cynical, self-interested bastard any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-carey/that-s-what-i-ve-never-been-able-to-get-about-religion-that-charmless/) [Mike Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-carey/) > [We will need to work hard to break the cynicism, talk straight and rebuild trust in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-benn/we-will-need-to-work-hard-to-break-the-cynicism-talk-straight-and/) [Hilary Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-benn/) > [Nothing is more urgent than a serious, dare I say compassionate, debate as to where we are going at home and abroad. Technicians cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/nothing-is-more-urgent-than-a-serious-dare-i-say-compassionate-debate/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“In a fractured age, when cynicism is god, here is a possible heresy: we live by stories, we also live in them. One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/in-a-fractured-age-when-cynicism-is-god-here-is-a-possible-heresy-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Only the broken-hearted idealist can become a cynic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-clifton/only-the-broken-hearted-idealist-can-become-a-cynic/) Mark Clifton > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) [Browse all 890 Cynicism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists-with-awkwardly-high-standards/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cynicism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists-with-awkwardly-high-standards/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e7/alain-de-botton-221_cynicism_cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists_505414.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Cynics are - beneath it all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists-with-awkwardly-high-standards/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists-with-awkwardly-high-standards/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```