QuoteProject
The mass of mankind is divided into two classes, the Sancho Panza's who have a sense for reality, but no ideals, and the Don Quixote's with a sense for ideals, but mad.
George Santayana
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote delineates two types of people: those grounded in reality without ambition and those driven by ideals but lacking practical sense.

George Santayana's quote suggests a dichotomy in human nature, where individuals can be categorized into two classes: those like Sancho Panza, who represent realism and practicality but lack lofty ideals, and those like Don Quixote, who embody noble aspirations but may be disconnected from reality. This highlights the tension between realism and idealism, urging us to seek a balance between the two to navigate life effectively.

Themes

RealityIdealsSancho PanzaDon QuixotePhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about balancing ambition and practicality, this quote could be used to illustrate the different approaches people take in life.

More from George Santayana

It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
George SantayanaRead
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
George SantayanaRead
Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
George SantayanaRead
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead

Similar quotes

Debt is the fatal disease of republics, the first thing and the mightiest to undermine governments and corrupt the people.
Wendell PhillipsRead
Cannons and fire-arms are cruel and damnable machines; I believe them to have been the direct suggestion of the Devil. If Adam had seen in a vision the horrible instruments his children were to invent, he would have died of grief.
Martin LutherRead
Where else could one find such a perfect combination of American values -- racism, militarism, capitalism -- all packaged in one 'ideal' symbol, a woman.
Robin MorganRead
We should not view men with a cynical eye, seeing them only as meaningless products of chance, but, on the other hand, we should not go to the opposite extreme of seeing them romantically. To do either is to fail to understand who men really are--creatures made in the image of God but fallen.
Francis SchaefferRead
Money is what fueled the industrial society. But in the informational society, the fuel, the power, is knowledge. One has now come to see a new class structure divided by those who have information and those who must function out of ignorance. This new class has its power not from money, not from land, but from knowledge.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Real greatness is often humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.
Henri NouwenRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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