I think I am a cynic… I am blessed with the good sense, wit and humor to laugh at everything that goes wrong with the world. Otherwise, I would have been a certified jaded person who could not come up with the energy to get up in the morning and face the woes of the day.
I was trying to psyche myself out as a form of unwinding and I find it all so entertaining… the economic plunge… the eternity-long wait for the chance to go home… the stress of work… the distance from my family… my long-distance relationship… the routinely frustrating problems that I have to deal with everyday. It’s a wonder I have not developed some form of addiction, except maybe the internet — which I use to attend my online classes. So that can’t count. The thing is, people do get attached to those things that give temporary relief. Some drink. Some smoke. Some do drugs. Some have sex. Habits that have very destructive consequences to the body and the mind. I prefer the more constructive outlets. The kind that develop creativity, strategic thinking, and habitual success such as blogging, shopping, planning, working out at the gym, travelling… the good stuff. It is all really just a matter of perspective. Happiness IS a state of mind. But I believe that what you think can only go so far as what is externally confirmed by your social, physiological, and environmental states. The key is positive thinking. The firm belief that everything shall pass according to how you perceive the world and your role in it. The mind is a very powerful thing. And humor is its greatest destressor.
So what’s the difference between being jaded or cynical? Here’s some interesting quotes I found on the internet. I had so much fun reading them that I felt I should share them on this post.
ETHICAL CONUNDRUMS
Is it worse to be cynical or jaded?
Terry Felstead, London
Who cares?
Jennifer, Bedford, England
What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care…
JD, Columbus, US
Surely you mean… is it better to be cynical or jaded?
Angela, London
People become jaded through repetitive experience. This is reasonable but dull. Cynicism is unreasonable but much more fun.
Fred, London UK
At least if you’re jaded it implies you’ve lived a little. I mean when it comes to wild parties I’m jaded, darling!
Rachel, New York USA
Cynicism is essential for surviving this lousy superficial society. Being jaded is the result of being insufficiently cynical.
keith leadbetter, edinburgh
Embrace your inner cynic. Of course, you get pretty jaded because of this after a while though.
greg, montreal canada
Jaded is infinitely worse than cynical, if only for health reasons. The jaded person has lost the will to live. A cynic will carry on living as they still have something left to fight. Additionally, a cynic can bring about change that the jaded are incapable of. Another point that may have been missed, the optimist tends to see things in their most positive light when perhaps this point of view is not justified nor healthy. As such the optimist is equally incapable of reaction. This can only bring one to the conclusion that the cynic is the highest level of self actualisation possible!
Charles E Hardwidge, Bristol United Kingdom
Actually, a cynic is someone who moans constantly but never does anything about anything and is determined to stay that way. Someone who’s jaded hasn’t lost the will to change, they’ve just lost the means. Scratch the surface of a cynic and you’ll find someone who simply doesn’t have any answers. Polish the surface of a jaded person and you’ll find they’ll come up good as new.
R Cooper, Twickenham
No. It’s better to be cynical or jaded.
Nigel Smith, Reading UK
Cynicism is a term derived from a philsophical school that questions everything without accepting immediate facts. Thus leading to the belief structure that everything must be questioned and nothing is as simple or easy as it seems. Jaded refers to an arrogance that is structered on the “been there, done that, have that tee-shirt” mentality.
Poly, Liverpool UK
Being cynical is the lowest form of humour but the highest form of intelligence
Kevin smith,
Cynics make good reporters.
Ann Moore, Hampton USA
Why should such negative emotions become associated with such a lovely colour as green?
figbash, England
Cynic comes from the Greek and means ‘dog-like.’ Jaded comes from the middle English and means ‘horse-like’. So it depends whether you prefer dogs or horses.
Karen, Oldham
I was cynical when I started to read all of the answers, now I’m jaded.
Stephen, Nottingham, England
It was probably Rupert Murdoch who got you to ask the question, not that I give a f*** anyway.
David Roberts, St Quentin La Poterie, France
Better to be both, then all bases are covered
Charlotte, Brighton, UK
But it is better to be tired or emotional than both.
Iain Stewart, Sydney, Australia
Jaded hobbits are like that only because they’ve been to Mt.Doom and back. Cynical hobbits never leave the shire. They don’t like adventure.
Greg Montgomery, Watertown, WI, USA
I would rather be a cynic; they have better jokes and complain less.
Camden, Milford, USA
Can’t remember who said ‘a cynic is just a sentimentalist who is afraid of himself’, but it makes me think that jaded is veteran cynic with a medal or two.
Clare, Belfast, Northern Ireland
I’m going to go with jaded because being jaded implies that you have a reason for being such… Cynics thrive on the belief that you can’t trust anything or anyone, with no solid reasoning… Why? Because if they had reason they’d be jaded!
Jess, Ft. Drum, NY USA
Pessimists tend to become cynical, as they tend to believe the existence of a hidden motive. Optimists, with experience, tend to become jaded, as the world falls short of their expectations. Jaded people tend to become cynical, but cynical people rarely end up jaded. So, being jaded is kind of the scenic route to cynicism.
Fatch, Milwaukee, WI USA
If cynicism robs you of innocent wonder and world-weariness leaves you crippled by the fatigue of living, then they are the same. For which is worse?
Michael Sircha, Perth, Western Australia
Its worse to be jaded. I am very cynical and I love it.
Herman, Edmond USA
A jaded person has been there and done that. A cynic never was.
Amy, Lakewood Jefferson
Cynicism and jaded are one and the same ingredients. The belief of insincere people is a stepping stone and/or a stumble onto loneliness. Ones distrust of peoples’ motives distances that person from others. That loneliness results in incidental bordem. Dishonesty makes the walls close in on one’s emotions.
Philip Trepanier, Ottawa, Canada
I don’t like either alone, together though: the jaded person before becoming jaded makes friends with a cynic and then they both have a great time. So long as the cynic enjoys the doses of optimism and doesn’t get annoyed by them. And the optimist doesn’t become disillusioned by hanging out with the cynic. Because that would be boring, pointless and gloomy. Cynics and optimists together can be really proactive and make great company: CAN be…
Lee Simmons, Torbay England
It’s worse to be jaded. Being cynical is a cognitive state of viewing the motives of other as self-serving. Jaded is when cynicism reaches a point of callous insensitivity.
Dan Zappone, Austin, TX US
A jaded person has loved and lost. A cynic has never loved at all.
Chris, Tuscaloosa, Alabama United States
In my opinion it’s better to be jaded; this implies that you have the requisite experience on which to base your jadedness. Cynicism implies that you have no reason to trust anything or anyone; jadedness implies on the other hand that you have reasons behind your lack of trust. Depending on what is, I’m both. So what difference does it really make which it’s better to be? The truth of the matter is this: it’s better to be neither cynical nor jaded.
William, Knoxville United States
I would say it has a sequence you are first cynical then after accepting you are right to be cynical you then become jaded. After being jaded then you can forget the lot and start being cyncial again
Ian, Worcester England
Cynicism is the rejection of social rules. The irony is that the cynic needs a society with all its rules in order to criticize it. Jaded people have experienced enough of societal events to know that not everything is at it seems; i.e companies announce grandiloquent “transformations” when what they mean is labor cuts; sales people offer you incredible bargains that end up costing more than a regularly priced item. Now, in my opinion, we all are a bit cynics, jaded, optimists, etc. at one time or the other. It’s part of a healthy human nature. Someone who defines his or herself as purely one or the other, is an emotionally crippled person.
Flavio, San Diego USA
Cynics tend to bite, jaded people tend to sigh.
Erik Willekens, Leuven Belgium
Cynicism goes hand in hand with scepticism. While being jaded leads to ignorance. If you can choose, choose cynicism, as it will bring you more trouble and thus a more complex life.
Gerald, Bavaria
Cynics can still be full of energy for a task, jaded individuals have temporarily run out of gas.
Michael Flynn, Phuket Phuket
The power of accurate observation is called Cynicism by those who do not possess it …
Jack, Boston, England
Cynicism differs from pessimism, for pessimists think that everything is negative, and nothing never helps, so they wont do anything. Cynics realise everything is negative and nothing ever helps, but they live with these rules. Cynicism is the best form of wisdom, for it will save you from many disappointments and mistakes in your life.
Markus Latvala, Nurmo, Finland
A jaded person is already asleep, while a cynic is still awake and suffers of this “condition”.
Tim, Potsdam (Germany)
I have been called a everything accept a child of God. But for the first time I was told I was cynical? But after doing research I realize that it is a form charm, good wits and intelligence, at least that’s the way I see it.
Ishmael, Baldwyn MS USA
Being cynical or being jaded is a set of mind. This being a set of mind means that it can be changed. Change happens because people force change. We should force cynical and jaded people to be different.
Ruiberto O.F., Bologna Espanja
Humbug. You’re all lightweights. As we rotate around a giant sinkhole to our certain oblivion, yet still have to pay taxes, buy a mortgage, spend thousands on ungrateful brats and die unloved in vicious and uncaring old people’s home; it’s better to reflect this miserable state of being by inclinging towards being both jaded AND cynical.
N Taylor, Brighton UK
The question is ambiguous because there are two fundamentally different kinds of cynics: professed, and practising. I am a professed cynic, and a softie at heart. Practising cynics think everyone else is shite, but keep that a secret until they’ve done their work.
Anthony Gumbrell, Seattle USA
A cynic is someone who looks at the world and sees through the tripe most people accept without questioning it, they express their disappointment with the human race in general through sarcastic comments and remarks. Someone who is jaded does the exact same thing, but instead of telling the rest of the world how stupid they are like cynics do, they simply watch and wait for the world to catch up with them.
Aoife, Dublin, Ireland
Cynics think that people are willing to throw them under the bus. People who are jaded have been under the bus.
Tom, Chicago, USA
Jaded people haven’t been there any more than cynics. They really are worthy of criticism, for there failure to do anything or to care. That’s all I have to say right now.
Michele, San Francisco
I’m a jaded cynic.
Martin Poffenberger, Peachtree City, GA USA
I am jaded and honestly its not because I was cynical
Hiren , Dhoraji India