Quotes About Pragmatism

I have a lot of courage. I'm a realist.

The common belief is that you are either a dreamer or a realist. But idealism and pragmatism aren't as far apart as one might think.

I am a mixture of idealist and realist.

I don't ever want to be a sentimentalist. I prefer to be a realist. I'm not a romantic really.

I consider myself a realist.

I'm very much a realist.

I'm a realist and I always have been.

I'm a very positive person, but I'm a realist too.

I think now I'm more realistic, but I'm still very much an idealist.

I'm competitive, but that doesn't stop me from being realistic.

As a driver, you always want to win every race, but as a car owner you know that isn't very realistic.

For us, it's always important to improve and keep things realistic.

Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

The authentic pragmatist realizes you can't get everything you think is right, but you can get much or most of it through negotiation. The authentic pragmatist sticks to his or her values and works to satisfy them maximally. The inauthentic pragmatist, on the other hand, is willing to depart from his or her true values for the sake of political gain. There

His track record of pragmatism, depth and candor all speak to a person who would find the Tea Party simplistic, opportunistic and misguided. Reagan was surrounded by some very smart people who gave him very sound advice. They were not wondering where certain countries are on the map.

We are pragmatists. We don't stick to any ideology. Does it work? Let's try it, and if it does work, fine, let's continue it. If it doesn't work, toss it out, try another one. We are not enamored with any ideology.

Let the historians and the Ph.D. students work out their doctrines. I'm not interested in theories per se.

In my job you can't just put your head in the sand and throw partisan bombshells. You have to get results.

We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean; the rest have failed.

Mi optimismo se apoya en esta convicción antigramsciana: no es la intelligentsia la que hace la historia. Por lo general, los pueblos —esas mujeres y hombres sin cara y sin nombre, las «gente del común», como los llamaba Montaigne— son mejores que la mayoría de sus intelectuales: más sensatos, más pragmáticos, más democráticos, más libres, a la hora de decidir sobre asuntos sociales y políticos.

Nature, the ultimate pragmatist, doggedly searches for something that works. But as the cockroach demonstrates, what works best in nature does not always appeal to us.

don't look to jump over seven-foot bars: I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over. —WARREN BUFFETT

ODYSSEUS             I cannot recommend a rigid spirit.

The short span of life forbids us to take on far-reaching hopes.