Mae Jemison Quotes

I am a mixture of idealist and realist.

I like to be an optimist, but I like to be a realist, too.

What I've learned is that life is a balance between idealism and realism.

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.

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

I'm not an extremist, you know.

I've known that about myself, that I've had two sides: one that's pretty tactical, down to earth, aware. There's also a really spacey side. But I realized they're kinda the same thing.

That has been my entire life story. Running against the current and running with the current. Sometimes running with the current is underestimated. The acceptance of certain realities doesn’t preclude idealism. It can lead to certain breakthroughs.

Balance isn't either/or; it's 'and'.

I'd describe myself as a pragmatist tinged with idealism.

You must not try to be too pure, you must fly closer to the sea.

...never let a passion for the perfect take precedence over pragmatism.

Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.

While we should never give up our principles, we must also realize that we cannot maintain our principles unless we survive.

A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a truth.

I've always said there is a boulevard that exists between compromising your principles and getting everything you want. Now, we should never compromise our principles. And I never have. Those are the things that people vote for you on, that's the core of who you are. But there's always a boulevard between that and getting everything you want.

I go back and forth between wanting to be abundantly simple and maddeningly complex.

Life is a battle between faith and reason in which each feeds upon the other, drawing sustenance from it and destroying it.

I am not a fanatic about anything. I do what I can do when I've got the time.

What's better, a poetic intuition or an intellectual work? I think they complement each other.

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

I personally don't feel the need to be radical for its own sake, but I probably couldn't if I tried anyway.

All the best have something in common, a regard for reality, an agreement to its primacy over the imagination.

To light one candle to God and another to the Devil is the principle of wisdom.

By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.