When cynicism turns into outright incredulity...

IN the fifth century BC a Greek chap named Antisthenes, a former pupil of Socrates, founded a group called The Cynics, whose members were sceptical about many of the norms of their day, including the concepts of wealth, power and fame, opting for a simple existence in accordance with the natural world. Early hippies, perhaps.

- Jack Critchlow

Our word 'cynic' comes from the Greek 'kuvikoi, its dictionary definitions including doubter, pessimist and scoffer.

It's easy to empathise with the philosophy of Antisthenes, Diogenes and the rest when one looks at our world today, even though herbal cigarettes and love beads of later adherents don’t figure a lot in this septuagenarian’s life.

But I admit that the older I get the more irritated I become over certain matters and that, occasionally, the cynicism of my advancing years may turn to sheer incredulity at some of what's going on in this country in our name.