Malcolm de Chazal Quotes

I've never understood the division between so-called realists and so-called idealists.

What we need most, is not so much to realize the ideal as to idealize the real.

Realism has always been called cynicism.

Let hope inspire you, but let not idealism blind you. Don't look back, you can never look back.

I am not an idiot, and I'm not a Pollyanna sort of kumbaya type.

In brief, egoism in its modern interpretation, is the antithesis, not of altruism, but of idealism.

To know oneself is to disbelieve utopia.

The world is bad but not without hope. It is only hopeless when you look at it from an ideal viewpoint.

I am a mixture of idealist and realist.

The question of the composition of perceptible objects is one which already occupied the mind of the ancient Greeks.

You can't be idealistic in this world and not be crazy.

I'm a realist.

I can't think of anyone who is up on evolutionary psychology and related areas who is deluded enough to be called a utopian.

I'm a hopeful cynic.

Idealist: a cynic in the making.

Sometimes, the only realists are the dreamers.

What you say about this world I do not quite agree with; I think it a very good world, and only requires a person to be reasonable in his expectations, and not to trust too much to others.

Utopianism is all well and good if it proceeds from a courageous appreciation of the world as it actually exists

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.

The laws were framed by certain well-meaning visionaries who, building republics in the air, have tried to reach political perfection on the assumption that humanity is perfect. So we have had philosophers instead of leaders, philanthropy instead of legislation, dialectic instead of tactics, and sophists instead of soldiers.

I think now I'm more realistic, but I'm still very much an idealist.

Naturalism is a counterpart to theism. Theism says there's the physical world and God. Naturalism says there's only the natural world. There are no spirits, no deities, or anything else.

I consider myself a realist.

I'm a dreamer and a realist.

The common belief is that you are either a dreamer or a realist. But idealism and pragmatism aren't as far apart as one might think.