Timonism

English

Etymology

From Timon +‎ -ism, after the 5th-century-BCE person Timon of Athens (as described by Plutarch, Lucian, and Aristophanes), possibly by way of William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens (c. 1607). Used in the Westminster Review (maybe after the earlier Timonist) in an 1840 review. Erroneously attributed to Herman Melville, who popularized it later in 1852.

Pronunciation

(General American, Received Pronunciation) enPR: tīʹmənĭzəm, IPA^(key): /ˈtaɪmənɪzəm/

Noun

Timonism (countable and uncountable, plural Timonisms)

A form of bitter misanthropy, a despair leading to hatred or contemptuous rejection of mankind, like Timon of Athens.
This most cruel betrayal led him to Timonism.
- 1840, in The Westminster Review, September:^[1]
  His "Timonism" scarcely shows itself, except against the priesthood, for which he has very little respect.
- 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre, chapter XVII "Young America in Literature", part III, online version:
  Then how could it be otherwise, than that an incipient Timonism should slide into Pierre, when he considered all the disgraceful inferences to be derived from such a fact.
- 1906, Prof. Walter Raleigh, letter published in 1926:^[2]
  Men are stuffy little fellows. Their manliness bores me—it is almost universal, and humanity is very rare. [...] the poor things keep on struggling in a web of phantoms. They play with dolls all their lives. It's no good talking to them about wisdom and beauty. They have a complete system. There's even a doll Hell. This is not Timonism, I am an optimist. They are saved, most of them by their guts. A doll has no guts.
- 1988 January, Paul Ollswang, "Cynicism: A Series of Cartoons on a Philosophical Theme", page B at official site; repr. in The Best Comics of the Decade 1980-1990 Vol. 1, Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 1990, →ISBN, p. 23:
  Cynicism is often contrasted with "Timonism" (cf. Shakespeare's Timon of Athens). Cynics saw what people could be & were angered by what they had become; Timonists felt humans were hopelessly stupid & uncaring by nature & so saw no hope for change.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Timonism.
A bitter or cynical utterance or behavior, in the manner of Timon of Athens.
Pay no attention to his Timonisms; it's a pose.
- 1891, Fergus Hume, When I Lived in Bohemia: Papers Selected from the Portfolio of Peter ---, Esq, repr. Tait, sons & company, 1892, p. 150 at Google Books:
  Thus he ran on carelessly in this cynical vein; but I, after a time, paid no attention to his Timonisms, being taken up with the spectacle of a crowd in the street surrounding a carriage.

Derived terms

Timonist

Related terms

Translations

Form of bitter misanthropy

French: timonisme m (regular), Timonisme (rare)

Bitter or cynical utterance

French: timonisme m (regular), Timonisme (rare)

References

OED, "Timon [feat. Timonian, Timonism, Timonist, Timonize]" in the Oxford English Dictionary (reproduced in a post)
TFD, "Timonism" in The Free Dictionary
Notes:

^ Signed "C.", "Fiction: Timon, But Not of Athens [review of the same-titled book by James Sedgwick (pseud. Timologus), London: Saunders & Otley, 1840]", Westminster Review, Vol. 34, No. 67, September 1840, "Critical and Miscellaneous Notices", p. 501; repr. in Vol. 34 (Nos. 66-67, June–September 1840), No. 2 (orig. 67), London: H. Hooper (C. Reynell, printer), 1841, p. 501 at Google Books.
^ Prof. Walter Raleigh (1861–1922), letter to linguist John Sampson, Oxford, 1 January 1906; pub. in The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh (1879-1922), 2 vols. ed. by Lady Raleigh, Vol. 1, London: Methuen (1st ed.), London: Macmillan (2nd ed.), 1926; repr. in The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh 1879 to 1922, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, →ISBN, p. 293 at Google Books. (Note: letter popularized in various other works, including by poet and critic Herbert Read in The Anthology of English prose (1931, aka The London Book of English Prose and English Prose Style, p. 252), and by Philip Wayne in The Personal Art: An Anthology of English letters (1949, p. 226).)

[1] Signed "C.", "Fiction: Timon, But Not of Athens [review of the same-titled book by James Sedgwick (pseud. Timologus), London: Saunders & Otley, 1840]", Westminster Review, Vol. 34, No. 67, September 1840, "Critical and Miscellaneous Notices", p. 501; repr. in Vol. 34 (Nos. 66-67, June–September 1840), No. 2 (orig. 67), London: H. Hooper (C. Reynell, printer), 1841, p. 501 at Google Books.

[2] Prof. Walter Raleigh (1861–1922), letter to linguist John Sampson, Oxford, 1 January 1906; pub. in The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh (1879-1922), 2 vols. ed. by Lady Raleigh, Vol. 1, London: Methuen (1st ed.), London: Macmillan (2nd ed.), 1926; repr. in The Letters of Sir Walter Raleigh 1879 to 1922, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, →ISBN, p. 293 at Google Books. (Note: letter popularized in various other works, including by poet and critic Herbert Read in The Anthology of English prose (1931, aka The London Book of English Prose and English Prose Style, p. 252), and by Philip Wayne in The Personal Art: An Anthology of English letters (1949, p. 226).)

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