Realist Quotes

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
― William Arthur Ward

“I know I'm not going to be in your head all the time. But once you know me, I'll be forever in your heart. ”
― Crystal Woods, Write like no one is reading

“People who are too optimistic seem annoying. This is an unfortunate misinterpretation of what an optimist really is.

An optimist is neither naive, nor blind to the facts, nor in denial of grim reality. An optimist believes in the optimal usage of all options available, no matter how limited. As such, an optimist always sees the big picture. How else to keep track of all that’s out there? An optimist is simply a proactive realist.

An idealist focuses only on the best aspects of all things (sometimes in detriment to reality); an optimist strives to find an effective solution. A pessimist sees limited or no choices in dark times; an optimist makes choices.

When bobbing for apples, an idealist endlessly reaches for the best apple, a pessimist settles for the first one within reach, while an optimist drains the barrel, fishes out all the apples and makes pie.

Annoying? Yes. But, oh-so tasty!”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

“The genuine realist, if he is an unbeliever, will always find strength and ability to disbelieve in the miraculous, and if he is confronted with a miracle as an irrefutable fact he would rather disbelieve his own senses than admit the miraculous also.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

“Your strength will be found when you stop struggling with yourself, instead of thinking everyone is a struggle worth overcoming. Every obstacle in life is a lesson that teaches us, not others.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Any discussion between idealist and realist would never end.”
― Toba Beta, Master of Stupidity

“Lately, a study has suggested that depressed people have a more accurate view of reality, though this accuracy is not worth a bean because it is depressing, and depressed people live shorter lives. Optimists and believers are happier and healthier in their unreal worlds.”
― Anna Funder, Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall

“The moral high ground is a lovely place. It won’t stop a missile, though. It won’t alter the trajectory of a gauss round.”
― James S.A. Corey, Cibola Burn

“I was hell-bent on being an effective humanitarian in Cambodia and Somalia. But a naïve fog is finally lifting. Revealed is a train wreck of illusions, the depravity of someone else's war, the futility of a competence stillborn there. To understand this you have to become this.”
― Kenneth Cain, Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) : True Stories from a War Zone

“I have a theory that as human beings get older, chemicals are released into the brain to prepare us for the end. Sort of like how the nurse lubes your ass up before the anus-cam. It makes the whole thing a lot easier to swallow. Easier, not enjoyable.”
― Kris D'Agostino, The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac

“You get started on something and you go where it takes you and you set aside other things because you don't have any choice. Because if you didn't set them aside you would never be able to go on. And then if you're lucky enough you get back to where you started and you realize your mistake. You realize how difficult it is to keep everything in your heart at the same time. How impossible. You can only keep so much and still go on. You come back for the rest if you're lucky enough.”
― Sam Winston

“Miracles are never a stumbling-block to the realist. It is not miracles that dispose realist to belief. The genuine realist, if he is an unbeliever, will always find strength and ability to disbelieve in the miraculous, and if he is confronted with a miracle as an irrefutable fact he would rather disbelieve his own senses than admit that fact. Even if he admits it, he admits it as a fact of nature till then unrecognized by him. Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. If the realist once believes, then he is bound by his very realism to admit the miraculous also. The Apostle Thomas said that he would not believe till he saw, but when he did see he said, “My Lord and my God!” Was it the miracle forced him to believe? Most likely not, but he believed solely because he desired to believe and possibly he fully believed in his secret heart even when he said, “I do not believe till I see.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

“I wasn't a glass half empty, half full kind of guy. No, I believed that the glass was completely full. Full of piss.”
― Grace McGinty, Manix

“A person who accepts that they are condemned to death and who holds no belief in a god created afterlife is a realist.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. If the realist once believes, then he is bound by his very realism to admit the miraculous also. The Apostle Thomas said that he would not believe till he saw, but when he did see he said, "My Lord and my God!" Was it the miracle forced him to believe? Most likely not, but he believed solely because he desired to believe and possibly he fully believed in his secret heart even when he said, "I do not believe till I see.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevski, The Brothers Karamazov

“I am a realist. I don't believe in fate and destiny is definitely not my thing. You want something? You go right ahead and get it.”
― Melanie Sargsian, Lovember: A Collection of Short Love Stories

“I hate this, but it’s true: being with happy people freaks me out,' she said. 'When I see them, all I could think about is how quickly their joy could end. A punch to the face. One phone call. Some hard truth. A shatter of ego. Or a house fire. Maybe there’s something wrong with me. Maybe my brain needs some sort of contrast. I get scared for them. Eggshells who care about things like almond milk. I get jealous actually. I think, 'How could you be that way?”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“There's no backup, and they think I'll die instantly without it. To them, equipment failure is terrifying. To me, it's “Tuesday.”
― Andy Weir, The Martian

“I am whatever I need to be to survive. Roles are as interchangeable as clothes and there are enough fools out there for me to live a long and prosperous life. The role I’ll play next is that of executioner,” Rondo replied, grinning at each pause.”
― Belart Wright, Into a Dark Adventure

“We must become realists to appreciate miracles.”
― Lidia Longorio, Hey Humanity

“A realist’s heart
It is not dead but it isn’t fully alive either
It is not affected by the change of the weather
It is truthful with itself
And does not remain for the taking on the shelf
A realist heart is simply a heart that knows it can stop beating at any minute
Every beat, the realist ought not waste it”
― Lidia Longorio, Hey Humanity

“Hayata, realiteye, menfaatlerine döndüğün zaman içine ne şeytan kalacak ne peygamber... Vücudunun ve ruhunun ne kadar basit bir makine olduğunu öğren, istediklerini tayin et ve bunlara doğru azimle ilerlemeye başla...Göreceksin!”
― Sabahattin Ali, İçimizdeki Şeytan

“To all Realist, Optimist and Pessimist Society; While you were arguing about my attitude, personality and character, I have achieved a tagline of youngest successful entrepreneur with 2 Million yearly turn over. What you have achieved?”
― Faheem Uddin Syed

“Frankl focused his psychologist’s eye on ultrarealists he encountered in these awful places, writing that “the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement,” which proved that “any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him—mentally and spiritually.”
― Matt Fitzgerald, The Comeback Quotient: A Get-Real Guide to Building Mental Fitness in Sport and Life

“Ultrarealists have something many of us don’t—an extraordinary readiness to face reality—and if you want to fulfill your own potential, you want that too.”
― Matt Fitzgerald, The Comeback Quotient: A Get-Real Guide to Building Mental Fitness in Sport and Life

“Romanticism, when placed in the hands of a realist, is the psychological waging of war.”
― Tali Sara, Screaming into Pillows

“I would love to walk alone
Forever rather than being betrayed”
― শওকত শাওন

“Like a hypnotist's pendulum, the spectacular chandelier swung to and fro, to and fro before playing tinkling tunes on its descent. Like the crescendo of crashing cymbals in Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’, a dramatic finale ensued as it smashed to the ground.”
― Juliet Ayres, A Glimmer Through the Breach

“I leave every embarrassing, and seemingly ridiculous mistake, statement, and or post I've made out there for all to see. Look at how I've grown~”
― Lashon Byrd

“A small request like that, who am I to turn it down? There is something you can do for me in return, though, especially now that you’re practically on our doorstep.”

Dreyfus bristled. “Just for once, it would be nice if someone did something for me without any strings attached.”

“Not the world we live in, Prefect,” Seraphim commiserated, as if they were equal victims of the same system.”
― Alastair Reynolds, Machine Vendetta