--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps he did not know himself - like…" description: "\"“Perhaps he did not know himself - like all these intellectual cynics...”\" — Arthur Koestler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg" --- # Perhaps he did not know himself - like all these… ![“Perhaps he did not know himself - like all these intellectual cynics...” quote by Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg) > ““Perhaps he did not know himself - like all these intellectual cynics...”” [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person may be unaware of their own nature, especially when surrounded by skeptical thinkers. **In simple terms:** Self‑ignorance among cynics. Key Takeaway Seek self‑awareness despite skepticism. Themes self‑knowledge intellectualism skepticism Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - academic discussion - self‑help - therapy - education Key Concepts philosophy psychology identity Questions to Reflect On - How does cynicism hinder self‑understanding? - What steps can reveal hidden aspects of yourself? A Different Perspective Self‑knowledge is hard to achieve without honest introspection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cynics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynics/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) ## Related quotes > [I don't like the intellectual label.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-like-the-intellectual-label/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Sometimes I feel like being an intellectual. Sometimes I like to just be aggressive and all the way in my feelings. Sometimes I might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-gates/sometimes-i-feel-like-being-an-intellectual-sometimes-i-like-to-just/) [Kevin Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-gates/) > [I don't want to pretend like I'm some intellectual person who understands Flannery O'Connor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-zarr/i-don-t-want-to-pretend-like-i-m-some-intellectual-person-who/) [Sara Zarr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-zarr/) > [I like intellectual journeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-meloni/i-like-intellectual-journeys/) [Christopher Meloni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-meloni/) > [Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/intellectuals-are-cynical-and-cynics-have-never-built-a-cathedral/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [Cynics know the answers without having penetrated deeply enough to know the questions. When challenged by mysterious truths, they marshall 'facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/cynics-know-the-answers-without-having-penetrated-deeply-enough-to/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly cynics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/remember-you-cannot-be-both-young-and-wise-young-people-who-pretend/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [“After I charge their brains with my own brand of skeptical electricity, I unleash them—the New Cynics—upon a world that is slowly and happily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristopher-jansma/after-i-charge-their-brains-with-my-own-brand-of-skeptical/) [Kristopher Jansma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristopher-jansma/) > [“The Cynics emphasized that true happiness is not found in external advantages such as material luxury, political power, or good health. True happiness lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-cynics-emphasized-that-true-happiness-is-not-found-in-external/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [Cynics criticize and winners analyze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/cynics-criticize-and-winners-analyze/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [The cynics are right nine times out of ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-cynics-are-right-nine-times-out-of-ten/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Cynicism was a school in Greece - the Cynics. Diogenes is a famous Cynic. There was a strong belief in nihilism and narcissism. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/cynicism-was-a-school-in-greece-the-cynics-diogenes-is-a-famous-cynic/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [Cynics and critics wake us up. Kindness often covers up the truth and allows us to sleep on in our ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/cynics-and-critics-wake-us-up-kindness-often-covers-up-the-truth-and/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) > [Don't let the doom criers and the cynics persuade you that the best is past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/don-t-let-the-doom-criers-and-the-cynics-persuade-you-that-the-best/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [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/) ## More by Arthur Koestler > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The temptations of God were always more dangerous for mankind than those of Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-temptations-of-god-were-always-more-dangerous-for-mankind-than/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The revolutions of thought which shape the basic outlook of an age are not disseminated through text-books- they spread like epidemics, through contamination by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-revolutions-of-thought-which-shape-the-basic-outlook-of-an-age/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The moment of truth, the sudden emergence of a new insight, is an act of intuition. Such intuitions give the appearance of miraculous flushes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-moment-of-truth-the-sudden-emergence-of-a-new-insight-is-an-act/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which - miraculously, it seems - merge into a significant event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-original-a-discovery-the-more-obvious-it-seems-afterwards/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“Revolutionary theory had frozen to a dogmatic cult, with a simplified, easily graspable catechism, and with No. 1 as the high priest celebrating the Mass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/revolutionary-theory-had-frozen-to-a-dogmatic-cult-with-a-simplified/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Coincidence may be described as the chance encounter of two unrelated causal chains which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/coincidence-may-be-described-as-the-chance-encounter-of-two-unrelated-2/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The more backwoodish a social group, juvenile or adult, the stricter its conception of the normal, and the readier it will ridicule any departure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-more-backwoodish-a-social-group-juvenile-or-adult-the-stricter/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [As modern physics started with the Newtonian revolution, so modern philosophy starts with what one might call the Cartesian Catastrophe. The catastrophe consisted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/as-modern-physics-started-with-the-newtonian-revolution-so-modern/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/if-one-looks-with-a-cold-eye-at-the-mess-man-has-made-of-history-it/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The ultimate truth is penultimately always a falsehood. He who will be proved right in the end appears to be wrong and harmful before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-ultimate-truth-is-penultimately-always-a-falsehood-he-who-will-be/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-real-achievement-in-discoveries-is-seeing-an-analogy-where-no-one/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [The jester is brother to the sage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-jester-is-brother-to-the-sage/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Explore all 199 Arthur Koestler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) ## More Cynics quotes > [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/) > [Don't let the doom criers and the cynics persuade you that the best is past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/don-t-let-the-doom-criers-and-the-cynics-persuade-you-that-the-best/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Cynics and critics wake us up. Kindness often covers up the truth and allows us to sleep on in our ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilferd-peterson/cynics-and-critics-wake-us-up-kindness-often-covers-up-the-truth-and/) [Wilferd Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilferd-peterson/) > [Cynicism was a school in Greece - the Cynics. Diogenes is a famous Cynic. There was a strong belief in nihilism and narcissism. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/cynicism-was-a-school-in-greece-the-cynics-diogenes-is-a-famous-cynic/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [The cynics are right nine times out of ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-cynics-are-right-nine-times-out-of-ten/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Cynics criticize and winners analyze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/cynics-criticize-and-winners-analyze/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [“The Cynics emphasized that true happiness is not found in external advantages such as material luxury, political power, or good health. True happiness lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-cynics-emphasized-that-true-happiness-is-not-found-in-external/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“After I charge their brains with my own brand of skeptical electricity, I unleash them—the New Cynics—upon a world that is slowly and happily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristopher-jansma/after-i-charge-their-brains-with-my-own-brand-of-skeptical/) [Kristopher Jansma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristopher-jansma/) > [Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly cynics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/remember-you-cannot-be-both-young-and-wise-young-people-who-pretend/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Cynics know the answers without having penetrated deeply enough to know the questions. When challenged by mysterious truths, they marshall 'facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/cynics-know-the-answers-without-having-penetrated-deeply-enough-to/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/intellectuals-are-cynical-and-cynics-have-never-built-a-cathedral/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [“Once upon a time, we were cynics facing the world alone. Our story changed into two warrior cynics facing the world together. Now, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-murphy/once-upon-a-time-we-were-cynics-facing-the-world-alone-our-story/) [Monica Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-murphy/) > [“Never surrender your hopes and dreams to the fateful limitations others have placed on their own lives. The vision of your true destiny does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/never-surrender-your-hopes-and-dreams-to-the-fateful-limitations/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/cynics-are-beneath-it-all-only-idealists-with-awkwardly-high-standards/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The cynics in life are the people who are always trying to do things for people who don't want things done for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/the-cynics-in-life-are-the-people-who-are-always-trying-to-do-things/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) [Browse all 86 Cynics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perhaps he did not know himself - like all these intellectual cynics...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Koestler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all-these-intellectual-cynics/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cynics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all-these-intellectual-cynics/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/arthur-koestler-1903_cynics_perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all_808476.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perhaps he did not know himself - like all these intellectual cynics...” — Arthur Koestler", "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": "Arthur Koestler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Perhaps he did not know himself...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all-these-intellectual-cynics/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/perhaps-he-did-not-know-himself-like-all-these-intellectual-cynics/#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 } } ] } ```