#cynism

Death: Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom. ↗

— Terry Pratchett

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#boredom #cynism #ennui #humor #death

In combating cynicism, it helps to know its source. Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustated idealist – someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations. Bill O’Brien points out that ‘burnout’ comes from causes other than simply working too hard: “There are teachers, social workers and clergy who work incredibly hard until they are 80 years old and never suffer ’burnout’ - because they have an accurate view of human nature. They don’t over-romanticize people, so they don’t feel the great pshychological stress when people let them down ↗

— Peter Senge

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#nature

I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: "The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that's fair." In these words he epitomized the history of the human race. ↗

— Bertrand Russell

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#human-nature #education