--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Antonio Gramsci said that social…" description: "\"Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. This means that one must have the intellect..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/057/andrew-solomon-1140_ability_antonio-gramsci-said-that-social-reforme_1321391.jpg" --- # Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have… ![“Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. This means that one must have the intellectual ability to see how bad things are and the emotional ability to look forward with hope. It's a hard combination to sustain, but if you can do…” quote by Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/057/andrew-solomon-1140_ability_antonio-gramsci-said-that-social-reforme_1321391.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/057/andrew-solomon-1140_ability_antonio-gramsci-said-that-social-reforme_1321391.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/057/andrew-solomon-1140_ability_antonio-gramsci-said-that-social-reforme_1321391.jpg) > “Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. This means that one must have the intellectual ability to see how bad things are and the emotional ability to look forward with hope. It's a hard combination to sustain, but if you can do it, you can change the world.” [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing critical awareness of problems with hopeful determination to act. **In simple terms:** See problems clearly, stay hopeful. Key Takeaway Cultivate realistic optimism. Themes politics activism psychology Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - social movements - community organizing - personal resilience Key Concepts critical theory hope theory Questions to Reflect On - How can you maintain hope when setbacks occur? - What actions keep pessimism constructive? A Different Perspective Optimism may wane without concrete progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Bad things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-things/) [Change the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-the-world/) [Changing the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-the-world/) [Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) [Reformers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reformers/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/pessimism-of-the-intellect-optimism-of-the-will/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [Those people that created the cultural Marxist thoughts, one guy by the name of Antonio Gramsci, very important within the Frankfurt School, argued against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-breitbart/those-people-that-created-the-cultural-marxist-thoughts-one-guy-by/) [Andrew Breitbart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-breitbart/) > [The pessimism of the intellect is the starting point for struggle. It's not the end point, it's the starting point. You have to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-pessimism-of-the-intellect-is-the-starting-point-for-struggle-it/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [“Socialism lost its way largely when it became decoupled from the processes of democracy. My vision of a socially just society is one that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manning-marable/socialism-lost-its-way-largely-when-it-became-decoupled-from-the/) [Manning Marable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manning-marable/) > [“On March 23, 1919, one of the most famous socialists in Italy founded a new party, the Fasci di Combattimento, a term that means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/on-march-23-1919-one-of-the-most-famous-socialists-in-italy-founded-a/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [But to manipulate men, to propel them toward goals which you-the social reformers-see, but they may not, is to deny their human essence, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/but-to-manipulate-men-to-propel-them-toward-goals-which-you-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The majority, being satisfied with the ways of mankind as they now are (for it is they who make them what they are), cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-majority-being-satisfied-with-the-ways-of-mankind-as-they-now-are/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In every age poets and social reformers have tried to stimulate the people of their own time to a nobler life by enchanting stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/in-every-age-poets-and-social-reformers-have-tried-to-stimulate-the/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [Some of the greatest social reformers of our time were wealthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-rubin/some-of-the-greatest-social-reformers-of-our-time-were-wealthy/) [Jerry Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-rubin/) > [The renaissance movement and social reformers have taught us that superstitious beliefs and customs should be challenged and opposed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pinarayi-vijayan/the-renaissance-movement-and-social-reformers-have-taught-us-that/) [Pinarayi Vijayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pinarayi-vijayan/) > [Very, very rarely will I leave San Antonio to speak somewhere else. I used to do that, and it just about wore me out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/very-very-rarely-will-i-leave-san-antonio-to-speak-somewhere-else-i/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [It is because good is always stronger than evil. Always remember that, Antonio. The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolfo-anaya/it-is-because-good-is-always-stronger-than-evil-always-remember-that/) [Rudolfo Anaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolfo-anaya/) > [My father is Jaime Rodriguez from San Antonio, Texas, and I've got one whole half of my family that's Mexican through and through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-roday/my-father-is-jaime-rodriguez-from-san-antonio-texas-and-i-ve-got-one/) [James Roday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-roday/) > [Draw, Antonio; draw, Antonio; draw and don’t waste time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/draw-antonio-draw-antonio-draw-and-don-t-waste-time/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [Fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez was a major part of my early career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-leon-talley/fashion-illustrator-antonio-lopez-was-a-major-part-of-my-early-career/) [Andre Leon Talley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-leon-talley/) ## More by Andrew Solomon > [“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-you-banish-the-dragons-you-banish-the-heroes/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I started traveling out of curiosity, but I have come to believe in travel's political importance, that encouraging a nation's citizenry to travel may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-started-traveling-out-of-curiosity-but-i-have-come-to-believe-in/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [When I was born, the wisdom was that homosexuality was an illness; that it was caused largely by somebody's mother, and a distorted relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/when-i-was-born-the-wisdom-was-that-homosexuality-was-an-illness-that/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [A lot of people are very political when they are young, and then they outgrow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/a-lot-of-people-are-very-political-when-they-are-young-and-then-they/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Having always imagined myself in a fairly slim minority, I suddenly saw that I was in a vast company. Difference unites us. While each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/having-always-imagined-myself-in-a-fairly-slim-minority-i-suddenly/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [If your love didn't always contain the possibility of loss, it would be very different from human love as we know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-your-love-didn-t-always-contain-the-possibility-of-loss-it-would/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Antonin Artaud wrote on one of his drawings, "Never real and always true," and that is how depression feels. You know that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/antonin-artaud-wrote-on-one-of-his-drawings-never-real-and-always/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I met people on college campuses who were defining themselves as genderqueer to express revolutionary feelings, or to communicate their individuality; they were gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-met-people-on-college-campuses-who-were-defining-themselves-as/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“In the throws of depression, one reaches a strange point at which it is impossible to see the line between ones own theatricality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/in-the-throws-of-depression-one-reaches-a-strange-point-at-which-it/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“Since I am writing a book about depression, I am often asked in social situations to describe my own experiences, and I usually end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/since-i-am-writing-a-book-about-depression-i-am-often-asked-in-social/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Loving our own children is an exercise for the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/loving-our-own-children-is-an-exercise-for-the-imagination/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [One the one hand, the simple fact that there are children and that I do have an effect on them has been one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/one-the-one-hand-the-simple-fact-that-there-are-children-and-that-i/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I grew up feeling that to be gay was a tragedy. I didn't grow up thinking that it was morally wrong, but I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-grew-up-feeling-that-to-be-gay-was-a-tragedy-i-didn-t-grow-up/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [We need to acknowledge that families come in multiple shapes and sizes, that love is not a finite asset, and that caregiving involves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/we-need-to-acknowledge-that-families-come-in-multiple-shapes-and/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I had always wanted to have children, so it caused me a lot of grief when I was younger, and I had supposed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-had-always-wanted-to-have-children-so-it-caused-me-a-lot-of-grief/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) [Explore all 282 Andrew Solomon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Antonio Gramsci said that social reformers should have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will. 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