--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You lose a certain kind of innocence when…" description: "\"“You lose a certain kind of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. You lose your right to be a jaded cynic. You can no longer go back thr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/rob-sheffield-1368_cynic_you-lose-a-certain-kind-of-innocence-whe_2016519.png" --- # You lose a certain kind of innocence when you experience… ![“You lose a certain kind of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. You lose your right to be a jaded cynic. You can no longer go back through the looking glass and pretend not to know what you know about kindness. It’s a defeat, in a way.” quote by Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/rob-sheffield-1368_cynic_you-lose-a-certain-kind-of-innocence-whe_2016519.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/rob-sheffield-1368_cynic_you-lose-a-certain-kind-of-innocence-whe_2016519.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/rob-sheffield-1368_cynic_you-lose-a-certain-kind-of-innocence-whe_2016519.png) > ““You lose a certain kind of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. You lose your right to be a jaded cynic. You can no longer go back through the looking glass and pretend not to know what you know about kindness. It’s a defeat, in a way.”” [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experiencing deep kindness shatters naive innocence and forces a loss of cynical detachment, making it impossible to ignore what you now know. **In simple terms:** Kindness ends naive cynicism. Key Takeaway Accept that kindness changes your worldview. Themes kindness innocence cynicism Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - receiving help - acts of generosity - personal trauma Key Concepts humanism emotional growth Questions to Reflect On - How has kindness altered your perspective? - Can you balance kindness with healthy skepticism? A Different Perspective May cause vulnerability to be exploited. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cynic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynic/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) ## Related quotes > [“You lose a certain type of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. You lose your right to be a jaded cynic. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/you-lose-a-certain-type-of-innocence-when-you-experience-this-type-of/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [We know kindness alone won't solve the world's problems, but we do know it can impact a person's ability to get through their day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-germanotta/we-know-kindness-alone-won-t-solve-the-world-s-problems-but-we-do/) [Cynthia Germanotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-germanotta/) > [Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/before-you-know-kindness-as-the-deepest-thing-inside-you-must-know/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“Kindness is the only love I know. Kindness is the only love there is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/kindness-is-the-only-love-i-know-kindness-is-the-only-love-there-is/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Many of the worlds kindest people, do not know kindness themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewshycrazyness/many-of-the-worlds-kindest-people-do-not-know-kindness-themselves/) [EwshyCrazyness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewshycrazyness/) > [“Imagine the greatness this world would know if kindness were as contagious and enduring as the common cold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/imagine-the-greatness-this-world-would-know-if-kindness-were-as/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Be careful with ur observation of me...so that u may know My kindness shouldn't be mistaken for a sign of weakness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ms-kee/be-careful-with-ur-observation-of-me-so-that-u-may-know-my-kindness/) [Ms Kee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ms-kee/) > [“and very carefully to them the truth of what you know, but with kindness in your heart. Have compassion for them, because not everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danzy-senna/and-very-carefully-to-them-the-truth-of-what-you-know-but-with/) [Danzy Senna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danzy-senna/) > [“Kindness is a source of relief to the soul of the giver, creating a sense of fortitude that is incomprehensible to those who do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janvier-chouteu-chando/kindness-is-a-source-of-relief-to-the-soul-of-the-giver-creating-a/) [Janvier Chouteu-Chando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janvier-chouteu-chando/) > [“Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/kindness-before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/before-you-know-what-kindness-really-is-you-must-lose-things-feel-the/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [Why should we strive, with cynic frown, to knock their fairy castles down?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-cook/why-should-we-strive-with-cynic-frown-to-knock-their-fairy-castles/) [Eliza Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-cook/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) ## More by Rob Sheffield > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“I suck at fighting. I have never really learned how to talk and be mad at the same time. If I have angry words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/i-suck-at-fighting-i-have-never-really-learned-how-to-talk-and-be-mad/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [Morrissey was my Mrs. Garrett, the house mother from the Facts of Life, a soothing adult figure giving me words of wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/morrissey-was-my-mrs-garrett-the-house-mother-from-the-facts-of-life/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“I had never gotten the hang of dating — I was always going to be somebody who either had a girlfriend or didn't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/i-had-never-gotten-the-hang-of-dating-i-was-always-going-to-be/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [The hottest trash-disco star in the world: Ke$ha! She has a lot in common with Kiss, actually, even spelling her name with a dollar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/the-hottest-trash-disco-star-in-the-world-ke-ha-she-has-a-lot-in/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“on the 11th of every month my friend elizabeth would say, "well we made it through another month. so do we get her back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/on-the-11th-of-every-month-my-friend-elizabeth-would-say-well-we-made/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“What doesn't kill you maims you, cripples you, leaves you weak, makes you whiny and full of yourself at the same time. The more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/what-doesn-t-kill-you-maims-you-cripples-you-leaves-you-weak-makes/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“But when you're a teenage boy, you can be narrow-minded about things that are girlie, things that are frivolous, things that are pop. Boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/but-when-you-re-a-teenage-boy-you-can-be-narrow-minded-about-things/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“I've never heard of anybody getting rid of their prized Exile postcards, much less actually writing on them and sending them through the mail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/i-ve-never-heard-of-anybody-getting-rid-of-their-prized-exile/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [It's always that one song that gets to you. You can hide, but the song comes to find you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/it-s-always-that-one-song-that-gets-to-you-you-can-hide-but-the-song/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [There are all kinds of mix tapes. there is always a reason to make one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/there-are-all-kinds-of-mix-tapes-there-is-always-a-reason-to-make-one/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“By the time you're an adult, you're used to seeing your friends disappear into their five-year plans. They drop out to get married, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/by-the-time-you-re-an-adult-you-re-used-to-seeing-your-friends/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“Last fall, I was sitting at the kitchen table of two friends who have been together since 1972. They tell me a story about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/last-fall-i-was-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-of-two-friends-who-have/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [Tonight, I feel like my whole body is made out of memories. I'm a mix-tape, a cassette that's been rewound so many times you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/tonight-i-feel-like-my-whole-body-is-made-out-of-memories-i-m-a-mix/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“You're in a physical landscape you share with this bizarre and fundamentally alien creature, not alien because she's female but alien because you're a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/you-re-in-a-physical-landscape-you-share-with-this-bizarre-and/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) [Explore all 249 Rob Sheffield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) ## More Cynic quotes > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [Why should we strive, with cynic frown, to knock their fairy castles down?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-cook/why-should-we-strive-with-cynic-frown-to-knock-their-fairy-castles/) [Eliza Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-cook/) > [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 > [I get the cynicism thing all the time, although I don't really know where that comes from, because I think I'm actually the opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/i-get-the-cynicism-thing-all-the-time-although-i-don-t-really-know/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [“Skeptics are always marked by their total lack of skepticism towards whatever position they are defending.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-madison/skeptics-are-always-marked-by-their-total-lack-of-skepticism-towards/) Steve Madison > [“Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers, things standing shall fall, but the moving ever shall stay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basava/listen-o-lord-of-the-meeting-rivers-things-standing-shall-fall-but/) Basava > [An executive should be a realist; and no one is less realistic than the cynic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/an-executive-should-be-a-realist-and-no-one-is-less-realistic-than/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Remember that all is opinion. For what was said by the Cynic Monimus is manifest: and manifest too is the use of what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/remember-that-all-is-opinion-for-what-was-said-by-the-cynic-monimus/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The idea of The Boy Vs. The Cynic is the tension between the wide-eyed optimism in youthfulness where you think nothing can go wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-reuben-zappin/the-idea-of-the-boy-vs-the-cynic-is-the-tension-between-the-wide-eyed/) [John Reuben Zappin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-reuben-zappin/) > [The cynic makes fun of all earnestness; he makes fun of everything and everyone who feels that something can be done. . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edgar-vincent/the-cynic-makes-fun-of-all-earnestness-he-makes-fun-of-everything-and/) George Edgar Vincent > [To me it seems to be important to believe people to be good even if they tend to be bad, because your own joy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/to-me-it-seems-to-be-important-to-believe-people-to-be-good-even-if/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [ \[in the\]..curious way that my idealism has been mixed with my fatalism, so that I can possess the soul of a dreamer and that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/in-the-curious-way-that-my-idealism-has-been-mixed-with-my-fatalism/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The only way to do my job without optimism would be as a cynic, and that's not my nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-snow/the-only-way-to-do-my-job-without-optimism-would-be-as-a-cynic-and/) [Jon Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-snow/) [Browse all 217 Cynic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You lose a certain kind of innocence when you experience this type of kindness. 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