--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a man speaks of the need for realism…" description: "\"When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.\" — Isaiah Berlin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg" --- # When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure… ![“When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.” quote by Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg) > “When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.” [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Realism in politics often precedes violent actions, warning against naive idealism. **In simple terms:** Realism can lead to violence. Key Takeaway Beware of realism as a prelude to conflict. Themes politics realism violence Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - international relations - historical analysis Key Concepts Political theory ethical implications Questions to Reflect On - When does realism become justification for force? - Can ethical considerations temper realism? A Different Perspective Idealism also has value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cynical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynical/) [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) ## Related quotes > [“Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/alas-how-shall-this-bloody-deed-be-answer-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [We need realism to deal with reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slick-rick/we-need-realism-to-deal-with-reality/) [Slick Rick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slick-rick/) > [You can't just have stuff that is free and escapist, you have to have stuff that is confrontational as well. You need stuff that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/you-can-t-just-have-stuff-that-is-free-and-escapist-you-have-to-have/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [For what is delusion but the prelude to hurt. And what is hurt but the prelude to rage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/for-what-is-delusion-but-the-prelude-to-hurt-and-what-is-hurt-but-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [As for Vietnam, what matters is that Kennedy successfully resisted pressure to send anything more than military advisers, a stance that was a likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/as-for-vietnam-what-matters-is-that-kennedy-successfully-resisted/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [Time wastes too fast : every letter I trace tells me with what rapidity Life follows my pen ; the days and hours of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/time-wastes-too-fast-every-letter-i-trace-tells-me-with-what-rapidity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/whom-the-gods-wish-to-destroy-they-give-unlimited-resources/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [There is always the risk that a conflagration in the Middle East becomes larger and more dangerous. In this scenario, we discover that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bremmer/there-is-always-the-risk-that-a-conflagration-in-the-middle-east/) [Ian Bremmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bremmer/) > [“All memory is prelude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-blight/all-memory-is-prelude/) David W. Blight > [I love music. I have a fondness for Chopin, and I very much like his 'Raindrop Prelude.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tammet/i-love-music-i-have-a-fondness-for-chopin-and-i-very-much-like-his/) [Daniel Tammet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tammet/) > [I would hazard a guess that we have found fossilized human remains of at least a thousand different specimens in South and East Africa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-leakey/i-would-hazard-a-guess-that-we-have-found-fossilized-human-remains-of/) [Richard Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-leakey/) > [It is said that those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. It may well be that a war neurosis stirred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyd-orr/it-is-said-that-those-whom-the-gods-wish-to-destroy-they-first-make/) [John Boyd Orr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyd-orr/) > [What is a man's life but a prelude to his death? And what is death but a long sleep, a most welcome forgetfulness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-a-man-s-life-but-a-prelude-to-his-death-and-what-is-death-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When the darkness is seen as a necessary prelude to the creative light, one is less likely to ascribe frustration to personal inadequacy or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/when-the-darkness-is-seen-as-a-necessary-prelude-to-the-creative/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Isaiah Berlin > [Those who have ever valued liberty for its own sake believed that to be free to choose, and not to be chosen for, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/those-who-have-ever-valued-liberty-for-its-own-sake-believed-that-to/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-is-liberty-not-equality-or-fairness-or-justice-or-human/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The world that we encounter in ordinary experience is one in which we are faced by choices equally absolute, the realisation of some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-world-that-we-encounter-in-ordinary-experience-is-one-in-which-we/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Philosophers are adults who persist in asking childish questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/philosophers-are-adults-who-persist-in-asking-childish-questions/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The history of society is the history of the inventive labors that man alter man, alter his desires, habits, outlook, relationships both to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-history-of-society-is-the-history-of-the-inventive-labors-that/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing completely straight was ever made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/out-of-the-crooked-timber-of-humanity-nothing-completely-straight-was/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Utopias have their value -- nothing so wonderfully expands the imaginative horizons of human potentialities -- but as guides to conduct they can prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/utopias-have-their-value-nothing-so-wonderfully-expands-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Both liberty and equality are among the primary goals pursued by human beings throughout many centuries; but total liberty for wolves is death to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/both-liberty-and-equality-are-among-the-primary-goals-pursued-by/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [All forms of tampering with human beings, getting at them, shaping them against their will to your own pattern, all thought control and conditioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/all-forms-of-tampering-with-human-beings-getting-at-them-shaping-them/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The case against the notion of historical objectivity is like the case against international law, or international morality; that it does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-case-against-the-notion-of-historical-objectivity-is-like-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“True pluralism, as Berlin understands it, is much more tough-minded and intellectually bold: it rejects the view that all conflicts of values can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/true-pluralism-as-berlin-understands-it-is-much-more-tough-minded-and/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/liberty-and-equality-spontaneity-and-security-happiness-and-knowledge/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [To understand is to perceive patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/to-understand-is-to-perceive-patterns/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [“The view that the truth is one and undivided, and the same for all men everywhere at all times, whether one finds it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-view-that-the-truth-is-one-and-undivided-and-the-same-for-all-men/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [The most passionate, consistent, extreme and implacable enemy of the Enlightenment and ... all forms of rationalism ... was Johann Georg Hamann. His influence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/the-most-passionate-consistent-extreme-and-implacable-enemy-of-the/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) [Explore all 64 Isaiah Berlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) ## More Bloody quotes > [Success doesn't have a downside for me. I'm busy, but I've always been busy whatever job I've had. My very first job working in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-derbyshire/success-doesn-t-have-a-downside-for-me-i-m-busy-but-i-ve-always-been/) Victoria Derbyshire > [AHHHHHH! Goyle has set the bloody place on fire! -Ron Weasley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ahhhhhh-goyle-has-set-the-bloody-place-on-fire-ron-weasley/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My style icon is anyone who makes a bloody effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-blow/my-style-icon-is-anyone-who-makes-a-bloody-effort/) [Isabella Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-blow/) > [If you're going to do something that looks evil, don't smear it with icing and pretend it's good; just bloody well do it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/if-you-re-going-to-do-something-that-looks-evil-don-t-smear-it-with/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [The problem was Le Corbusier was a genius and an enormous artist, but he tried to resolve problems to which there is no solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-krier/the-problem-was-le-corbusier-was-a-genius-and-an-enormous-artist-but/) [Leon Krier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-krier/) > [Sound trumpets! Let our bloody colours wave! And either victory, or else a grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/sound-trumpets-let-our-bloody-colours-wave-and-either-victory-or-else/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I was at Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco hiking when a boulder came hurling down the mountainside and smashed my left hand. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/i-was-at-mount-tamalpais-near-san-francisco-hiking-when-a-boulder/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“The heart is a bloody thing. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toby-barlow/the-heart-is-a-bloody-thing/) [Toby Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toby-barlow/) > [I'd have opened a bloody library if I'd wanted to be quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/i-d-have-opened-a-bloody-library-if-i-d-wanted-to-be-quiet/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-proud-spirit-of-the-original-owners-of-these-vast-prairies/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-man-had-his-way-the-plan-of-redemption-would-be-an-endless-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) Browse all 865 Bloody quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isaiah Berlin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realism-one-may-be-sure-that-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bloody" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realism-one-may-be-sure-that-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/029/isaiah-berlin-10150_bloody_when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realis_2990503.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.” — Isaiah Berlin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Isaiah Berlin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When a man speaks of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realism-one-may-be-sure-that-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/when-a-man-speaks-of-the-need-for-realism-one-may-be-sure-that-this/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```