A Cynic Looks at Life

A collection of sardonic essays that interrogate the pretensions and contradictions of civilized society, addressing religion, morality, education, war, and popular notions of progress. The writer contrasts learned comforts with lifestyles labeled uncivilized to argue that greater knowledge enlarges both capacity for good and for vice and to propose that the pursuit of happiness underlies human motives. Sentimental philanthropy, national self-congratulation, and institutional hypocrisy receive sharp criticism while older customs and impulses are shown to persist beneath polite appearances. Witty aphorism and caustic irony pervade the pieces, prompting skeptical reexamination of commonplace beliefs.