Hans-Georg Gadamer Quotes

We have to learn how to work within the limits that are possible, not what is desirable.

What we need most, is not so much to realize the ideal as to idealize the real.

You can theorise about the options you have but in reality they are very specific.

That is what all of us must learn to do in the United States; to limit objectives, to get ourselves away from the absolute, to find out what is within our powers.

Government is the art of the momentarily feasible, of the least bad attainable, and not of the rationally most desirable.

I learned over time that you do not go for the perfect solution….You do what is doable and then you want to try and do a little bit more.

On Pragmatism: It's all very well in theory but it doesn't work in practice

We have to stick to basics. Sometimes, you expect that miracles will happen, but it does not work out that way.

We will not think noble because we are not noble. We will not live in beautiful harmony because there is no such thing in this world, nor should there be. We promise only to do our best and to live out our lives. Dear God, that's all we can promise in truth.

It makes sense to work towards a better world, but it doesn't make any sense to have illusions about what the real world is.

The question shouldn't be what we ought to do, but what we can do.

In politics, as in life, we must above all things wish only for the attainable.

Each day has its own destiny. Yesterday is history, today is opportunity while tomorrow is mystery.

My philosophy is that you do what you have to do.

I'm a dreamer and a realist.

I always live in the present. I never dream about what might happen. Why? It might not.

The problem with Raven is that she's so smart, so sometimes it's hard for her to be hopeful or idealistic, because she's so realistic. So even if she's working on a solution, she's not proud of it until it's concrete.

Realities are greater than ideas. Because sometimes ideas can separate us unnecessarily. So let's attend to the realities that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. That's what I want to do.

I'm really pragmatic. That's my reality.

I may be an aspiring actor, but I am also a realist.

Pragmatism and romance are sort of opposites.

I am an optimist, not a dreamer.

They say that these are not the best of times, but they're the only times I've ever known.

I'm always the "less is more" guy when it comes to a scene. So I'ma be the one who will keep it grounded. Even if I let it go off and go crazy, I'm still the voice of keeping things grounded in reality.

Life doesn't require ideals. It requires standards of action.