Stamping Out Cynicism in the Trenches of Life

Advice from Teddy Roosevelt on how to better see and approach the world.

Theodore Roosevelt during a visit to the Badlands of Dakota in 1885, after the death of his first wife. Photo by T W Ingersoll. MPI/Getty Images

I was recently struck by how cynical our society has become. This thought came as I encountered one critical comment after another on various websites I was visiting—it seemed like people found fault with anything and everything and felt the need to publicly express it.

It was discouraging and annoying—and judging from the responses of others, I wasn’t the only one who viewed these cynical people in such a negative light.