#real

The debacle in Iraq has reinforced the realist dictum, disparaged by idealists in the 1990s, that the legacies of geography, history and culture really do set limits on what can be accomplished in any given place. But the experience in the Balkans reinforced an idealist dictum that is equally true: One should always work near the limits of what is possible rather than cynically give up on any place. In this decade idealists went too far; in the previous one, it was realists who did not go far enough. ↗

— Robert D. Kaplan

#humanitarian-intervention #idealism #interventionism #iraq #noninterventionism

The passion for revenge should never blind you to the pragmatics of the situation. There are some people who are so blighted by their past, so warped by experience and the pull of that silken cord, that they never free themselves of the shadows that live in the time machine... And if there is a kind thought due them, it may be found contained in the words of the late Gerald Kersh, who wrote:"... there are men whom one hates until a certain moment when one sees, through a chink in their armour, the writhing of something nailed down and in torment. ↗

— Harlan Ellison

#realism #revenge #experience

Doubt is a question mark; faith is an exclamation point. The most compelling, believable, realistic stories have included them both. ↗

— Criss Jami

#convincing #doubt #faith #honesty #inspiration

The most confused you will ever get is when you try to convince your heart and spirit of something your mind knows is a lie. ↗

— Shannon L. Alder

#common-sense #confusion #disbelief #evidence #faith

For a year, Johnny lived the new, brutal truth that he was on his own. But that's the way it was. What had been concrete one day proved sand the next; strength was illusion; faith meant shit. So what? So his once-bright world had devolved to cold, wet fog. That was life, the new order. Johnny had nothing to trust but himself, so that's the way he rolled - his path, his choices, and no looking back. ↗

— John Hart

#facing-reality #jaded #faith

If God closes a door AND a window, consider the fact that it might be time to build a whole new house. ↗

— Mandy Hale

#closed-doors #destiny #faith #faith-in-god #holding-out-for-the-best

We’re so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks—we’re involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don’t get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing? ↗

— Mitch Albom

#looking-back #mundane-life #realization #truth #wrapped-up

Or -- and this she knew was a far more accurate way of looking at it -- the book was true and reality was lying. ↗

— Terry Pratchett

#reality #humor

this was an outstanding family subject in our real life. ↗

— Rohinton Mistry

#family

Basically all the religions,sciences and powers of the world boil down to a simple truth. The Best Story Teller will win in the end! ↗

— Stanley Victor Paskavich

#life #peace #reality #religion #truth