Naivete Quotes

Poor Wilson did not understand that a frontier which is not defended with bayonets, force and honor cannot be secured by any other principle.

I'm often characterized as an optimistic writer, and certainly my 'Neanderthal Parallax' and 'WWW' trilogies shade toward the utopian. I like to think that's not simple naivete, but rather a reasonable approach.

People told me, 'You talk about Europe like it's Heaven. It's not Heaven.

Ronald Reagan plays with fire! He sees the world like the theater.

I'm guilty of extraordinary naivete, I suppose. But it's a naivete that I really don't want to abandon, not even now.

I'm a baby face in real life - in person.

I think that the worst form of naivete can be extreme cynicism. If you think that nobody comes to Washington to do any good whatsoever, that is almost as bad as being starry-eyed and thinking that they are all here to advance democracy.

When I did A Soldier's Story, I was very young and green and thought I knew everything-now I know I know everything!

Sometimes a good idea comes to you when you are not looking for it. Through an improbable combination of coincidence, naivete and lucky mistakes.

I spent a lot of time quasi-fascinated with characters who were super-dumb and super-cocky. I always liked that combination.

I really like arcade games and like the '80s and early '90s kind of games, just because there's a real kind of naivete to them, but there's like a real inventiveness to it as well.

Proper stupidity is fascinating.

Truly original thinkers tend not to be entrepreneurs who've spent 10 years at Cisco and can be trusted to know what they're doing. They tend to be 26 years old and highflying. They often have a very childlike mind, with some naivete.

In Washington, excessive cynicism is the most prevalent form of naivete. I just wish reporters were as skeptical about bad news as they are about good news.

We're all idealistic when young.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

The style of writing required in the great world is distinguished by a free and daring grace, a careless security, a fine and sharp polish, a delicate and perfect taste; while that fitted for the people is characterized by a vigorous natural fulness, a profound depth of feeling, and an engaging naivete.

Lincoln has few of the qualities of a politician and ... cannot do much personally to advance his interests …. a guileless man.

I was a subscriber to 'Sports Illustrated' like so many of us, and I was overwhelmed by a toxic mix of naivete and arrogance, and just thought to myself, 'I think I can write like this.'

I felt the naivete of a child in my dancing. I cherished that feeling. I had what I call a knowledgeable naivete, and it worked for me.

I'm still a bit of a romantic and an idealist and hopelessly naive.

In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning.

I feel like I've survived so much, and been through so much. And sometimes I miss the innocence of those times. Life was different. New York was different. The music business was different. I miss the simplicity of it, the naivete of everyone around me.

At 20, you're cocky and you think you can rule the world, and you get it all wrong.

I don't think that this should be politicized. But this is probably naive. In this environment, everything gets politicized.