'Cynicism is fear'

Ken Burns

“I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we’re led to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it’s worse than fear; it’s active disengagement.’’

—Ken Burns (born 1953) celebrated maker of documentary films on topics in American history. His production company is Florentine Films, based in Walpole, N.H. The company’s name came from co-founder Elaine Mayes’s hometown of Florence, Mass. Burns attended Hampshire College, in nearby Amherst, Mass.

The Walpole, N.H. Town Hall

The (somewhat) famous Miss Florence Dinner, in Florence, Mass. Having a thriving silk industry in the 19th Century, the village was named in 1852 after Florence, Italy, for its own thriving silk trade in Europe.