Explore a collection of the most beloved and motivational quotes and sayings about Idealist. Share these powerful messages with your loved ones on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or on your personal blog, and inspire the world with their wisdom. We've compiled the Top 100 Idealist Quotes and Sayings from 94 influential authors, including Caryll Houselander,Horace Mann,Rick Bayan,Mason Cooley,Leslie Charteris, for you to enjoy and share.

There is a possessiveness in the idealist's attitude . . . . "You are to be like me. I will shape you, or hammer you, into the shape of my ideal. You must enjoy my pleasures. Your tastes must coincide with mind. You must have only my values. You must be restricted by my limitations By Caryll Houselander Attitude Possessiveness Idealist Shape Ideal

Ideality is the avant-courier of the mind. By Horace Mann Ideality Mind Avantcourier

Cynic: an idealist whose rose-colored glasses have been removed, snapped in two and stomped into the ground, immediately improving his vision By Rick Bayan Cynic Removed Snapped Ground Immediately

The idealist regards facts as provisional. By Mason Cooley Provisional Idealist Facts

I am an absurd idealist. But I believe that all that must come true. For, unless it comes true, the world will be laid desolate. And I believe that it can come true. I believe that, by the grace of God, men will awake presently and be men again, and colour and laughter and splendid living will return to a grey civilisation. But that will only come true because a few men will believe in it, and fight for it, and fight in its name against everything that sneers and snarls at that ideal. By Leslie Charteris True Idealist Men Absurd Fight

Idealists are not the good friends of the truths; they create their own truth. By Mehmet Murat Ildan Idealists Truths Truth Good Friends

People will say I'm an idealist. I hope so. By A. Bartlett Giamatti People Idealist Hope

An idealist believes that the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run. - Sydney J. Harris By David Allen Run Short Count Long Idealist

The idealist's program of political or economic reform may be impracticable, absurd, demonstrably ridiculous; but it can never be successfully opposed merely by pointing out that this is the case. A negative opposition cannot be wholly effectual: there must be a competing idealism; something must be offered that is not only less objectionable but more desirable. By Charles Horton Cooley Absurd Impracticable Demonstrably Ridiculous Case

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. By George Carlin Inside Person Idealist Cynical Disappointed

I prefer truth-based entertaining idealism. By Toba Beta Idealism Prefer Truthbased Entertaining

Idealism, that gaudy coloring matter of passion, fades when it is brought beneath the trenchant white light of knowledge. Ideals, like mountains, are best at a distance. By Ellen Glasgow Idealism Passion Fades Knowledge Ideals

An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run. By Sydney J. Harris Run Count Short Long Idealist

It is very important that you express your idealism actively, to what ever extent you can, for this increases your sense of worth and power ... By Seth Actively Power Important Express Idealism

Idealism is the despot of thought, just as politics is the despot of will. By Mikhail Bakunin Despot Idealism Thought Politics

An ideal is merely the projection, on an enormously enlarged scale, of some aspect of personality. By Aldous Huxley Projection Scale Personality Ideal Enormously

The Platonic idealist is the man by nature so wedded to perfection that he sees in everything not the reality but the faultless ideal which the reality misses and suggests. By George Santayana Reality Platonic Suggests Idealist Man

Optimist: day dreamer more elegantly spelled. By Mark Twain Optimist Day Spelled Dreamer Elegantly

Man is born a predestined idealist, for he is born to act. To act is to affirm the worth of an end, and to persist in affirming the worth of an end is to make an ideal. By Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Born Act Man Idealist Worth

Idealists mature badly. If they can't outgrow their idealism, they become hypocrites or blind. By Brent Weeks Idealists Badly Mature Idealism Blind

People say I'm such a pessimist, but I always was. It never stopped me from doing what I had to do. I would say I'm a realist. By Joan Baez People Pessimist Stopped Realist

The more idealism proves futile, the more I respect idealists. By Marty Rubin Futile Idealists Idealism Proves Respect

Cynical is a fool's word for realist. By Paul Christopher Cynical Realist Fool Word

Idealism is guilty middle-class bullshit. By Eric Bogosian Idealism Bullshit Guilty Middleclass

Ideals are an imaginative understanding of that which is desirable in that which is possible. By Walter Lippmann Ideals Imaginative Understanding Desirable

Idealism does not represent a superfluous expression of emotion, but in truth it has been, is, and will be, the premise for what we designate as human culture ... Without his idealistic attitude all, even the most dazzling faculties of the intellect, would remain mere intellect just like outward appearance without inner value, and never creative force ... The purest idealism is unconsciously equivalent to the deepest knowledge ... By Adolf Hitler Emotion Culture Represent Superfluous Expression

I may be a businessman in that I set up and run companies for profit, but when I try to plan ahead and dream up new products and new companies, I'm an idealist. By Richard Branson Companies Profit Idealist Businessman Set

Scratch a cynic and you'll find a disappointed idealist. By Jon F. Merz Scratch Idealist Cynic Find Disappointed

If I wasn't idealistic, there wouldn't be anything worth fighting for. By Mik Everett Idealistic Worth Fighting

I may sound very cynical, but a cynic is really a realist. By U.g. Krishnamurti Cynical Realist Sound Cynic

A realist is a slave to reality. By Mokokoma Mokhonoana Reality Realist Slave

We're all idealists, all materialists; and the final judgment or label is simply a matter of ideology, or, if you prefer, of political commitment. By Fredric Jameson Idealists Materialists Ideology Prefer Commitment

The only option for a pure idealist is to commit suicide. By Wu Guoguang Suicide Option Pure Idealist Commit

Idealism without realism is impotent. Realism without idealism is immoral. By Richard M. Nixon Impotent Idealism Realism Immoral

Wishful thinking is not idealism. It is self-indulgence at best and self-exaltation at worst. In either case, it is usually at the expense of others. In other words, it is the opposite of idealism. By Thomas Sowell Wishful Idealism Thinking Worst Selfindulgence

A cynic is a frustrated idealist. By Al Ruksenas Idealist Cynic Frustrated

I've never understood the division between so-called realists and so-called idealists. By Hillary Clinton Idealists Socalled Understood Division Realists

Idealism sees the world in God. It beholds the whole circle of persons and things, of actions and events, of country and religion,not as painfully accumulated, atom after atom, act after act, in an aged creeping Past, but as one vast picture, which God paints on the instant eternity, for the contemplation of the soul. By Ralph Waldo Emerson God Idealism World Past Atom

If anarchists are idealists, they may simply be likened to someone who finds himself swimming in a cesspool and, rather than paddling about looking for the area with the least amount of floating faeces, seeks to climb out of the pool completely. By Robert Higgs Idealists Faeces Seeks Completely Anarchists

Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist. By George Carlin Scratch Idealist Cynic Find Disappointed

An individualist - a man who has no intention of ever exploring the goals of others because he has no intention of compromising with his own - may become: (a) a hermit of limited goals, (b) a tyrant surrounded by slaves with rebellion in his future and covert hostility in his present. By Donald Kingsbury Intention Goals Individualist Present Man

Being idealistic really helps you overcome some of the many obstacles put in your path. By Andy Hertzfeld Path Idealistic Overcome Obstacles Put

A realist is a man who insists on making the same mistakes his grandfather did. By Benjamin Disraeli Realist Man Insists Making Mistakes

Idealism is the highest form of reason. By John Charles Polanyi Idealism Reason Highest Form

The difference between an idealist and a fanatic is the idealist is only 90% sure he's right. By Jim Payne Idealist Difference Fanatic

We should, I think, proceed to enquire into what we mean by ideals - or rather, to examine, critically, the nature of those acts which to us appear to be outward manifestations of idealisms By John Okechukwu Munonye Critically Proceed Ideals Examine Idealisms

Idealism is like a castle in the air if it is not based on a solid foundation of social and political realism. By Claude Mckay Idealism Realism Castle Air Based

Idealism and realism meet in the actual. By Mary Parker Follett Idealism Actual Realism Meet

In my heart I'm independent, a bit of a rebel, a nonconformist. By Nicole Kidman Independent Rebel Nonconformist Heart Bit

Words without actions are the assassins of idealism. By Herbert Hoover Words Idealism Actions Assassins

The idealist walks on tiptoe, the materialist on his heels. By Malcolm De Chazal Tiptoe Heels Idealist Walks Materialist

The word realist means nothing to me, because I would subordinate reality to temperament. Give me what is true and I applaud; but give me what is individual and alive and I applaud even more. By Emile Zola Temperament Word Realist Subordinate Reality

But the egoist has no ideals, for the knowledge that his ideals are only his ideals, frees him from their domination. He acts for his own interest, not for the interest of ideals. By John Buchanan Robinson Ideals Frees Domination Egoist Knowledge

The ideal is the enemy of the real. By Susan Block Real Ideal Enemy

My idealism is clearly one reason I'm an artist. I see art as one of mankind's more sublime acts, as a vital counterbalance to our base impulses . By Richard Schmid Artist Idealism Reason Acts Impulses

If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough - you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal. By Richard Stallman World Idealism Goal Accomplish Choose

It wasn't idealism that made me, from the beginning, want a more secure and rational society. It was an intellectual judgment, to which I still hold. When I was young its name was socialism. We can be deflected by names. But the need was absolute, and is still absolute. By Raymond Williams Beginning Society Idealism Made Secure

There is no realism without an element of idealism. By Henry A. Kissinger Idealism Realism Element

Without idealism, politics is reduced to a form of social accounting, the day-to-day administration of men and things. This too is something that a conservative can survive well enough. But for the Left it is a catastrophe. By Tony Judt Idealism Politics Accounting Administration Things

The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. By Paul Hawken Cynic Dreamer Unrealistic Person World

Idealism, however impractical, gives a meaning to our existence. By Anirban Bose Idealism Impractical Existence Meaning

One who hopes inordinately, impairs his deeds. By Ahmed Hassan Inordinately Impairs Deeds Hopes

The egoist is fooled by no ideals: he discards them or uses them, as may suit his own interest. By John Buchanan Robinson Ideals Interest Egoist Fooled Discards

Everybody is idealistic when you're a kid. By Clint Eastwood Kid Idealistic

I'd say I'm a revolutionary optimist. I believe that the good guys -the people- are going to win. By Amiri Baraka Optimist Revolutionary Guys People Win

I'm an idealistwho has outgrownmy idealismI have nothing to dothe rest of my lifebut do itand the rest of my lifeto do it By Jack Kerouac Rest Idealistwho Outgrownmy Idealismi Dothe

I'm not an idealist. I know we're not going to be living in a world that's peace and love all the time. But we can live in a world where we kill each other a lot less. By Michael Franti Idealist World Time Living Peace

I'm a realist and I always have been. By Jackie Joyner-Kersee Realist

If you are not an idealist by the time you are twenty you have no heart, but if you are still an idealist by the time you are thirty, you don't have a head. By Randolph Bourne Idealist Time Heart Thirty Head

Ideas first and last: yet it is not till these are formulated and utilized that the devotees of the common sense discern their value and advantages. The idealist is the capitalist on whose resources multitudes are maintained life long. Ideas in the head set hands about their several tasks, thus carrying forward all human endeavors to their issues. By Amos Bronson Alcott Advantages Ideas Till Formulated Utilized

What I am is something unbearable for the world of journalism and the world of cliches. I'm a realist. By Gore Vidal World Cliches Unbearable Journalism Realist

A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned. By Warren W. Wiersbe Idealist Fire Purified Realist Burned

I am an anarchist in politics and an impressionist in art as well as a symbolist in literature. Not that I understand what these terms mean, but I take them to be all merely synonyms of pessimist. By Henry Adams Literature Anarchist Politics Impressionist Art

Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power. By Bertrand Russell Power Disguised Passes Idealism Hatred

First, I was an idealist (that was early - fools are born, not made, you know); next I was a realist; now I am a pessimist, and, by Jove! if things get much worse I'll become a humorist. By Ellen Glasgow Jove Idealist Early Fools Born

Don't make me into this airy-fairy, moralist, idealist because I'm not. By Madeleine Albright Moralist Airyfairy Idealist Make

Idealism misconstrues agency, implying the capacity to bring about influence where that capacity may not exist or where it may only be weak. By James Davison Hunter Idealism Agency Implying Weak Capacity

I am fundamentally an optimist. By Nelson Mandela Optimist Fundamentally

Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist - someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations. By Peter M. Senge Scratch Idealist Expectations Surface Cynics

It's easy to be a naive idealist. It's easy to be a cynical realist. It's quite another thing to have no illusions and still hold the inner flame. By Marie-Louise Von Franz Easy Idealist Naive Realist Flame

He who only wishes and hopes does not interfere actively with the course of events and with the shaping of his own destiny. By Ludwig Von Mises Destiny Wishes Hopes Interfere Actively

Egoist is someone who cares more for himself than me. By Julian Tuwim Egoist Cares

Cynical' is a term invented by optimists to describe realists. By Anonymous Cynical Realists Term Invented Optimists

Person you want to be and assume that you are already that person. If this assumption is persisted in until it becomes your dominant feeling, the attainment of your ideal is inevitable. By Neville Goddard Person Assume Feeling Inevitable Assumption

Idealistic? Ruddy stupid, if you'll pardon the language, miss,: Mr Roberts said. "All this talk about power for the people and down with the ruling classes and everyone should govern themselves. It can never happen, I told him. The ruling classes are born to rule. They know how to do it. You take a person like you or me and you put us up there to run a country and we'd make a ruddy mess of it. By Rhys Bowen Idealistic Ruling Roberts Classes Miss

Cynic' is the sentimentalist's name for the realist. By Carolyn Heilbrun Cynic Realist Sentimentalist

Economy is idealism in its most practical form. By Calvin Coolidge Economy Form Idealism Practical

In brief, egoism in its modern interpretation, is the antithesis, not of altruism, but of idealism. By John Buchanan Robinson Egoism Interpretation Antithesis Altruism Idealism

An idealist is ahead of his time only in the sense that he is articulate. The same is true of a nation. For even primitive people, even effete races have a message for those above or below them. The heritage of the Ideal, however small can not be exhausted. By Ameen Rihani Articulate Idealist Ahead Time Sense

All men who have ideals ... live by some kind of faith, by committing themselves to some kind of loyalty which is not universally recognized as the common property of all thinking men. They must have something-something outside themselves, to make them feel life is worth living, that good rather than evil is the explanation of the world. By Ronald Knox Ideals Kind Men Live Faith

Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power. By Aldous Huxley Idealism Power Noble Toga Political

Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads. I wonder which YOU are. I pragmatically turn my whims into principles! By Bill Watterson People Pragmatists Taking Things Making

I would call that man a born artist whose soul nature has from the very beginning endowed with an ideal, and for whom this ideal replaces the truth; he believes in it without reservation, and his life's task will be to realize it completely for himself, and to set it forth for the contemplation of others. By Hans Von Marees Ideal Truth Reservation Call Man

I'm a realist." "You're a misanthrope. By Jason Mott Realist Misanthrope

Ideals are the world's masters. By Josiah Gilbert Holland Ideals Masters World

Optimist: Person who travels on nothing from nowhere to happiness. By Mark Twain Optimist Person Happiness Travels

The ideal is the only absolute real; and it must become the real in the individual life as well, however impossible they may count it who never tried it. By George Macdonald Real Ideal Absolute Individual Life

How easy human frailties could thrive under the cover of idealism By Hermann Hesse Idealism Easy Human Frailties Thrive

Idealism leads to realism if it is strictly thought out. By Ludwig Wittgenstein Idealism Leads Realism Strictly Thought

I'm a pessimist if I'm not careful, a feminist, a Black, ... an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive. By Octavia E. Butler Black Careful Feminist Pessimist Laziness