Ideal Quotes

We all need ideals to guide our footsteps.  And as per C.S. Lewis, we all have them, even those who say they don’t believe in them. 🙂  Please read through these ideal quotes and see if any enlighten and uplift you:

1. Our ideals resemble the stars, which illuminate the night. No one will ever be able to touch them. But the men who, like the sailors on the ocean, take them for guides, will undoubtedly reach their goal. -Carl Shurz

2. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. -Epictetus

3. An ideal cannot wait for its realization to prove its validity. -George Santayana

4. Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it. -Gustave Flaubert

5. We are all inclined to judge ourselves by our ideals; others, by their acts. -Harold Nicolson

6. Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be. -Henry David Thoreau

7. Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. -Leo Buscaglia

8. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. -Michelangelo

9. Life without idealism is empty indeed. We just hope or starve to death. -Pearl S.Buck

10. We aim above the mark to hit the mark. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

11. Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. -Theodore Roosevelt

12. Ideals are an imaginative understanding of that which is desirable in that which is possible. -Walter Lippmann

13. The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been kindness, beauty, and truth. -Albert Einstein

14. The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live. -Victor Hugo

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

16. I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out. -Anne Frank

17. All men are prepared to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened. -Hermann Hesse

18. The attainment of an ideal is often the beginning of a disillusion. -Stanley Baldwin

19. When a man forgets his ideals, he may hope for happiness, but not till then. -John Oliver Hobbes

20. What we need most, is not so much to realize the ideal as to idealize the real. -Francis Herbert Hedge (1846-1924)

21. Ideals are like the stars: we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them. -Carl Schurz (1829-1906)

22. The true measure of a man is the height of his ideals, the breadth of his sympathy, the depth of his convictions, and the length of his patience. -Unknown

23. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. -Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)

24. When they come downstairs from their Ivory Towers, idealists are very apt to walk straight into the gutter. -Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946)

25. The idealist is incorrigible: if he is thrown out of his heaven he makes an ideal of his hell. -Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Any of you have any thoughts on the subject?

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View Comments (13)

  • As a believer in establishing ideals as a guide to all we do, so many of these quotes truly resonate. In my estimation, a pessimists will disguise himself as a realist even while hope can be found in that reality while a true realist tends toward optimism as he sees the virtue in his ideals. The false realist finds excuses for failure, while the true realists continually finds reason to keep up the pursuit of his ideals.

  • Hey shawn, I am happy to include a picture of myself along with my comments if I could only figure out how.

  • Our ideals resemble the stars, which illuminate the night. No one will ever be able to touch them. But the men who, like the sailors on the ocean, take them for guides, will undoubtedly reach their goal.

    That is beautiful.

  • The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. -Michelangelo

    this quote moved me a lot bcs I know I've been aiming really low lately in order to not be disappointed. but will have to change that.

    Shawn I hope you now how much I greatly appreciate what you are doing. I always eagerly look forward to your emails

  • 6. Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be. -Henry David Thoreau

    I like Henry David Thoreau, that line says it all. Keep the good quotes coming Shawn. Thanks.

  • Like the comments from Laura, David and Bryan above, I eagerly await your emails. These particular quotes are truly lofty and utterly inspiring. However, what is even more inspiring in this ever quickening flow of life is that you take the time out to give to others. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am not exactly computer savvy either but here from Nottingham, England sincere greetings and remember what you do is more appreciated than you know.

    • Thanks so much, Marion. I very much appreciate your words. It is really heartening to get messages like yours. It gives me fuel to keep going.

      Thanks again.

      By the way, you don't have a Sherwood Forest out there, do you?

  • The quotes are great motivators. These can guide any success-oriented person to work towards the achievement of his life purpose.
    May God bless you, Shawn.

  • Oh yes indeed. There is an ancient oak rumoured to be Robin Hood's larder and where his merry band would hide inside the trunk to escape the Sheriffs men. When I was young, we could fit half a dozen small people inside. However,the poor tree is today held up with supports and chains and no-one is allowed to enter and walk over the ground close to it. I am doubtful though that the legend has any real foundation and whilst I would love to believe it, I am a little more cynical today. Nottingham City is close by as is Newstead Abbey the former home of Lord Byron, the poet. The countryside here is lovely but judging by the photographs you display, there remains a gread deal of the world I still need to see. Some of the scenes shot are truly magestic. You should state exactly where these places are .....

    • That's a good suggestion, Marion. I know there's a why I can do that...so I will try. I get the photos from a photo sharing site where some people allow you to use them and others do not. But I know of another that makes it easier to post them and adds an attribution automatically.

      I could probably post a few of my own pictures, since I drive around a lot for work and I do take pictures when I find some really amazing places.

      Thanks for sharing info on the Nottingham area; you have so much rich history around you. (btw, I saw the latest Robin Hood movie and did not like it; it didn't have any similarity to the usual story)

  • It would be lovely to see some of your own ... go for it! P.S. Don't believe everything you see in the movies. Thanks Shawn.

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