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

War is wrong. Conscription for war is inconsistent with freedom of conscience, which is not merely the right to believe but to act on the degree of truth that one receives, to follow a vocation which is God-inspired and God-directed.
Bayard RustinRead
Most Christians pray to be blessed. Few pray to be broken.
Leonard RavenhillRead
I'm just not convinced that Jesus is going to say, "When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me.
Shane ClaiborneRead
Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid...He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world
Raymond ChandlerRead
We call an intention good which is right in itself, but the action is good, not because it contains within it some good, but because it issues from a good intention.
Peter AbelardRead
That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrels of Nations is as shocking as it is true.
Thomas PaineRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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

Quote by Walter Lippmann | QuoteProject