We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
she stood up by sitting down. I’m only standing here because of her.
—Rosa Parks (1913–2005) American Civil Rights Leader
To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals—that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
Idealist: a cynic in the making.
—Irving Layton (1912–2006) Romanian-born Canadian Poet, Lecturer
Living up to ideals is like doing everyday work with your Sunday clothes on.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
Idealism is the despot of thought, just as politics is the despot of will.
—Mikhail Bakunin (1814–76) Russian Anarchist Philosopher
A perfect human being: Man in search of his ideal of perfection. Nothing less.
—Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan (1916–2004) British Sufi Mystic, Psychologist, Religious Leader
Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Satirist, Short Story Writer
The idealist walks on tiptoe, the materialist on his heels.
—Malcolm de Chazal (1902–81) Mauritian Writer, Painter, Philosopher
Don’t part company with your ideals. They are anchors in a storm.
—Arnold Glasow (1905–98) American Businessman
An idealist is a person who helps other people to be prosperous.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
I’m an idealist. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.
—Caroline Schoeder American Aphorist
There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Many have dreamed up republics and principalities that have never in truth been known to exist; the gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than self-preservation.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
We never reach our ideals, whether of mental or moral improvement, but the thought of them shows us our deficiencies, and spurs us on to higher and better things.
—Tryon Edwards (1809–94) American Theologian, Author
Saddle your dreams before you ride em.
—Mary Webb (1881–1927) British Novelist, Poet
Man can never come up to his ideal standard.—It is the nature of the immortal spirit to raise that standard higher and higher as it goes from strength to strength, still upward and onward.—The wisest and greatest men are ever the most modest.
—Margaret Fuller (1810–50) American Feminist, Writer, Revolutionary
It’s time for greatness—not for greed. It’s a time for idealism—not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action.
—Marian Wright Edelman (b.1939) American Activist, Advocate
We for a certainty are not the first have sat in taverns while the tempest hurled their hopeful plans to emptiness, and cursed whatever brute and blackguard made the world.
—A. E. Housman (1859–1936) English Poet, Classical Scholar
All genuine ideals have one thing in common: they express the desire for something which is not yet accomplished but which is desirable for the purpose of the growth and happiness of the individual.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Should we continue to look upwards? Is the light we can see in the sky one of those which will presently be extinguished? The ideal is terrifying to behold, lost as it is in the depths, small, isolated, a pin-point, brilliant but threatened on all sides by the dark forces that surround it nevertheless, no more in danger than a star in the jaws of the clouds.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
—Samuel Ullman (1840–1924) American Businessman, Poet
Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don’t over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Idealism springs from deep feelings, but feelings are nothing without the formulated idea that keeps them whole.
—Jacques Barzun (b.1907) American Cultural Historian, Philosopher
Nearly all the Escapists in the long past have managed their own budget and their social relations so unsuccessfully that I wouldn’t want them for my landlords, or my bankers, or my neighbors. They were valuable, like powerful stimulants, only when they were left out of the social and industrial routine.
—Willa Cather (1873–1947) American Novelist, Writer
Every life has its actual blanks which the ideal must fill up, or which else remain bare and profitless forever.
—Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910) American Feminist, Reformer, Writer
Every man has, at times, in his mind the ideal of what he should be, but is not. In all men that seek to improve, it is better than the actual character.—No one is so satisfied with himself that he never wishes to be wiser, better, and more holy.
—Theodore Parker (1810–60) American Unitarian Minister, Abolitionist
Ideals are great arrows, but there has to be a bow. And politics is the bow of idealism.
—Bill Moyers (1934–2025) American Journalist, Public Figure, TV Commentator
Our ideals are our better selves.
—Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) American Teacher, Writer, Philosopher
Success is the satisfaction of feeling that one is realizing one’s ideal.
—Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) Russian Ballerina
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