Quote by Jon F. Merz

“You know that inside every cynic, there’s just a very disappointed idealist?”

— Roe Horvat

Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.

— George Carlin

“A cynic is a frustrated idealist.”

— Al Ruksenas

“Cynics are, in the end, only idealists with awkwardly high standards.”

— Alain de Botton

Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist — someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations.

— Peter Senge

“A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.”

— Susan Elia MacNeal

Someone once said, if you scratch a cynic, and you'll find a disappointed idealist. That really rang a bell with me - because I…

— George Carlin

Idealist: a cynic in the making.

— Irving Layton

Anyone can be an idealist. Anyone can be a cynic. The hard part lies somewhere in the middle.

— Anonymous

Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.

— Alain de Botton

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

— George Carlin

“I'm a cynical idealist.' He paused and wondered if that meant anything.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald