QuoteProject
A rational man acting in the real world may be defined as one who decides where he will strike a balance between what he desires and what can be done.
Walter Lippmann
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of balancing personal desires with practical limitations.

Walter Lippmann suggests that a rational person is one who thoughtfully navigates between their wishes and the reality of their capabilities. This balance requires self-awareness and a practical approach to decision-making, allowing individuals to make informed choices that align with both their passions and the possibilities of the real world.

Themes

BalanceDesireRealityRationalityDecision-Making

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about personal growth, this quote can highlight the balance needed to pursue dreams realistically.

More from Walter Lippmann

Football strategy does not originate in a scrimmage: it is useless to expect solutions in a political campaign.
Walter LippmannRead
The simple opposition between the people and big business has disappeared because the people themselves have become so deeply involved in big business.
Walter LippmannRead
The news and the truth are not the same thing.
Walter LippmannRead
There is nothing so bad but it can masquerade as moral.
Walter LippmannRead
The tendency of the casual mind is to pick out or stumble upon a sample which supports or defies its prejudices, and then to make it the representative of a whole class.
Walter LippmannRead
The private citizen, beset by partisan appeals for the loan of his Public Opinion, will soon see, perhaps, that these appeals are not a compliment to his intelligence, but an imposition on his good nature and an insult to his sense of evidence.
Walter LippmannRead

Similar quotes

How long had he been doing what was necessary instead of what was right? In a fair world they would be one and the same.
Robert JordanRead
There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved.
Thomas AquinasRead
Among those who share a throne there can be no loyalty; Dominion's ever impatient consort.
LucanRead
I live not in myself, but I become Portion of that around me: and to me High mountains are a feeling, but the hum of human cities torture.
Lord ByronRead
I have become convinced that the more wealth a country accumulates, the more isolated and lonely its people become. The loneliest are usually the children and the elderly. Children learn what they live, and isolation in the β€˜village’ is one of the most destructive messages we daily write on the tablets of their hearts.
Wess StaffordRead
If [people] place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral. Friendship, family life and human relationships are not primary in a man's life. A man who places others first, above his own creative work, is an emotional parasite.
Ayn RandRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.