Quotes about Idealism

The physics of the 21st century shall deal essentially with non-spatial matter and non-spatial mechanics.

Man is an appearance, God is a reality.

Give me somewhere to stand, and I will move the world.

This is an extension to the well know quote from René Descartes: "I think therefore I am".

"I visualize therefore I become" - Claude Pelletier

All "public interest' legislation (and any distribution of money taken by force from some men for the unearned benefit of others) comes down ultimately to the grant of an undefined undefinable, non-objective, arbitrary power to some government officials. The worst aspect of it is not that such a power can be used dishonestly, but that it cannot be used honestly. The wisest man in the world, with the purest integrity, cannot find a criterion for the just, equitable, rational application of an unjust, inequitable, irrational principle.

The developed world has a vast, under-utilized asset that is not being leveraged to its best advantage: idealistic people who want to make the world a better place.  For most of a century, idealistic people have been encouraged to use anger, protest, lobbying, and legal action in order to make the world a better place.  While most certainly some of these behaviors and activities were necessary, we have reached the point at which the social benefit of such behaviors is decreasing.  We have reached the point at which creation, rather than attack, ought to be the first obligation of reformers.  The social entrepreneurship movement is the first tip of this iceberg.  We want to create a world in which all idealists realize that the creation of new enterprises is the most powerful way to make positive change in the world.  If all the energy that is currently invested in zero-sum political conflict was gradually transferred to the committed creation of sustainable enterprises, the cumulative impact on behalf of the good would be extraordinary.

While followers idealize the real, leaders realize the ideal... They outshine with their power of love those whose only motivation is love of power. - Debashis Chatterjee

We were told we could do anything we wanted and then when we tried they told us we couldn't. That's Generation X, the generation trapped between idealism and despair.

The right shot, at the right moment, does not come because you do not let go of yourself.  You are not waiting for fulfillment, but bracing yourself for failure.  So long as this is so, you have no choice but to call forth something from yourself that ought to happen independently of you.

Man's ideal state is realized when he has fulfilled the purpose for which he is born. And what is it that reason demands of him? Something very easy-that he live in accordance with his own nature.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, this you will become.

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it.

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it.

Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

Whoever does not know how to find the way to his ideal lives more frivolously and impudently than the man without an ideal.

I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.

All successful people are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.

Goals are not dreamy, pie-in-the-sky ideals. They have every day practical applications and they should be practical.

It is a socialist ideal that making profits is a vice. I consider the real vice is making losses.

No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.

I love judges, and I love courts. They are my ideals, that typify on earth what we shall meet hereafter in heaven under a just God.

Genius is talent provided with ideals.

The ideal has many names, and beauty is but one of them.

We have a system which, though far from perfect, is strong with idealism. It gives elbow room for men of all races and all beliefs. It is vital and dynamic. And it works. We have the means of shaping the world in our pattern. If we do, freedom will be assured for all men. The decision is in the hands of this generation. It is a challenge to our political competence. For Western civilization it is the greatest challenge of all time.

Calmness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great nature, in harmony with itself and its ideals. It is the moral atmosphere of a life self-centered, self-reliant, and self-controlled. Calmness is singleness of purpose, absolute confidence, and conscious power, ready to be focused in an instant to meet any crises.

Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?

The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal.

No art can conquer the people alone-the people are conquered by an ideal of life upheld by authority.

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, the cumulative experience of many masters of craftsmanship. Quality also marks the search for an ideal after necessity has been satisfied and mere usefulness achieved.