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Idealism AND Pragmatism
Written by: Jing JinArticle Overview: dealism without pragmatism is like a beautiful house on paper. It is nice to look at and dream of, but it does not manifest itself into physical reality. Pragmatism without idealism is like putting a house together without a design, it serves some purpose in the short run, but does not create lasting values. As Victor Hugo put it, it is by the real that we exist, and it is by the ideal that we live. As human beings, we obviously need both: to exist and to live. To create a meaningful and fulfilling life, we need both ideals AND practicality.
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Idealism AND Pragmatism
“The
human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It’s
by the real that we exist. It is by the ideal that we live.
-- Victor Hugo
From my work with people, and from my observations, I’ve seen the two
opposite spectrums of idealism and pragmatism. Some have high ideals,
but lack of pragmatic approaches to realize their ideals; yet others
sacrifice their ideals for what is practical and “real.”
Idealism
without pragmatism is like a beautiful house on paper. It is nice to
look at and dream of, but it does not manifest itself into physical
reality. Pragmatism without idealism is like putting a house together
without a design, it serves some purpose in the short run, but does not
create lasting values.
As
Victor Hugo put it, it is by the real that we exist, and it is by the
ideal that we live. As human beings, we obviously need both: to exist
and to live. To create a meaningful and fulfilling life, we need both
ideals AND practicality.
The ideal:
James Allen said it beautifully, “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream,
so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one
day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”
Many of us stopped dreaming long time ago when we were told, “It is
impossible,” “Get real,” “Be practical.” Deep down, we all have our
dreams and ideals, no matter how deeply they are buried inside. To
create a life that brings us joy and fulfillment, we need to rediscover
our dreams and ideals, believe in them, live in them, and embody them.
The real:
There are real demands in life that require us to understand the
intricate relationships with people, money, business and the society we
live in. These demands call for a practical and realistic approach to
strike a healthy balance between results AND relationships, values AND
profits, short term AND long term.
Live your ideals AND be real:
Often people take an “either/or” approach. If I choose one value, I
have to reject or give up the other. For example, if I go for my
values, I have to give up profit; if I value relationships, I have to
compromise results; if I take a long-term view, I have to sacrifice
short-term outcomes. If we can hold two seemingly opposing ideas at the
same time and allow ourselves to dance between them, like the yin and
yang symbol, we may be able to strike that delicate balance between the
two. Striking a balance does not mean arriving at the golden mean being
perfect, it means that we hold into our ideals and allow room for
flexibility, adaptability, change, and negotiations.
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Article Tags: apple, br, center span, fantasy, fulfilling life, human beings, lasting values, physical reality, practicality, pragmatic approaches, pragmatism, span class, span style, spectrums, style font, style text, victor hugo
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About the Author: Jing Jin RSS for Jing's articles - Visit Jing's website  Click here to visit Jing's website   7 Steps to Financial Freedom The 7 Pillars of Purpose Driven Entrepreneurship Idealism AND Pragmatism Five Elements to Financial Freedom AND Fulfillment Play with Your Dark Side |
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