Cynicism is my least favorite character trait.
“Nothing matters.” “That’ll never work.” “Everyone’s only in it for themselves.” “Don’t be naïve.”
Cynics imply that they’re smarter than everyone so they can sit back and smirk while others hope and struggle and fail. Cynicism is laziness disguised as sophistication. After all, if nothing matters, the intelligent move is to not bother trying.
One lesson from history and experience is that anything worthwhile was accomplished by someone who took a risk and often faced setbacks along the way. I’ll take one person trying something new, even if it doesn’t work, over a hundred smug critics telling them they were fools who were too stupid to give up.
The reason I made Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech an important part of my book, The Last Mechanical Monster, is that I think its sentiment is true (granted, the character who was inspired by that speech was the story’s anti-hero, but the principle holds). It is hard to create and easy to destroy; hard to attempt something and easy to sit on the sidelines sniping.
Hope is courageous. Sincerity is risky. Declaring “This is what I believe, and I will work for it and stand behind it” in whatever arena—art, politics, academics, social relationships—is inviting cynics to open fire on your unguarded heart. Ignore them. Don’t let them get inside your head. No matter what happens, even if you fail, you tried when they were too afraid, timid, or lazy to.
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