--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The ideal may seem remote of execution…" description: "\"The ideal may seem remote of execution, but the democratic ideal of education is a farcical yet tragic delusion except as the ideal more and more domin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/john-dewey-545_delusion_the-ideal-may-seem-remote-of-execution-b_2189708.png" --- # The ideal may seem remote of execution, but the democratic… ![“The ideal may seem remote of execution, but the democratic ideal of education is a farcical yet tragic delusion except as the ideal more and more dominates our public system of education.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/john-dewey-545_delusion_the-ideal-may-seem-remote-of-execution-b_2189708.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/john-dewey-545_delusion_the-ideal-may-seem-remote-of-execution-b_2189708.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/john-dewey-545_delusion_the-ideal-may-seem-remote-of-execution-b_2189708.png) > “The ideal may seem remote of execution, but the democratic ideal of education is a farcical yet tragic delusion except as the ideal more and more dominates our public system of education.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The democratic ideal of education is often idealized, yet its implementation can become unrealistic and oppressive. **In simple terms:** Education ideals can become unrealistic. Key Takeaway Critically assess educational policies. Themes education democracy idealism Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - school reform - curriculum design - public debate - teacher training Key Concepts critical theory social justice policy Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance idealism with practicality? - What reforms honor democratic values? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore practical constraints and diverse needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion/) [Delusion Ideal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion-ideal-4764946/) [Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic/) [Democratic Ideal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic-ideal-807617/) [Democratic ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic-ideals/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Education Farcical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education-farcical-4764947/) [Execution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/execution/) [Ideal Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideal-education-4764948/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) [Tragic Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic-delusion-4764945/) ## Related quotes > [Cooperation called fraternity in the classic French formula is as much a part of the democratic ideal as is personal initiative. 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I think one big reason why electoral democracy flourished in 19th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/the-democratic-ideal-has-always-been-related-to-a-moderate-level-of/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [The United States is not so strong, the final triumph of the democratic ideal is not so inevitable that we can ignore what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/the-united-states-is-not-so-strong-the-final-triumph-of-the/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [The democratic ideal springs from the ideas of liberty, equality, majority rule through free elections, protection of the rights of minorities, and freedom to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-democratic-ideal-springs-from-the-ideas-of-liberty-equality/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Our modern democratic ideal is based on the hope that inequalities will be based on merit more than inheritance or luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/our-modern-democratic-ideal-is-based-on-the-hope-that-inequalities/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Education is not filling the mind with a lot of facts. Perfecting the instrument and getting complete mastery of my own mind \[is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/education-is-not-filling-the-mind-with-a-lot-of-facts-perfecting-the/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The moral and social aspiration proper to American life is, of course, the aspiration vaguely described by the word democratic; and the actual achievement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-croly/the-moral-and-social-aspiration-proper-to-american-life-is-of-course/) [Herbert Croly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-croly/) > [In Czechoslovakia in 1968, communist reformers appealed to democratic ideals that were deeply rooted in the country's pre-second world war past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-michnik/in-czechoslovakia-in-1968-communist-reformers-appealed-to-democratic/) [Adam Michnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-michnik/) > [Even when you cherish democratic ideals, it is never easy to turn them into effective democratic institutions. This process will take decades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/even-when-you-cherish-democratic-ideals-it-is-never-easy-to-turn-them/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [In other words, all these things you might cling to, Catholicism, democratic ideals, Hasidism, Marxism, Freudianism, all of these things are exposed \[through use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/in-other-words-all-these-things-you-might-cling-to-catholicism/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The unhealthy gap between what we preach in America and what we often practice creates a moral dry rot that eats at the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-m-young/the-unhealthy-gap-between-what-we-preach-in-america-and-what-we-often/) [Whitney M. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-m-young/) > [Perhaps our national ambition to standardize ourselves has behind it the notion that democracy means standardization. But standardization is the surest way to destroy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-tarbell/perhaps-our-national-ambition-to-standardize-ourselves-has-behind-it/) [Ida Tarbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-tarbell/) > [Once we recognize the power of propaganda, we need to ask whether its exercise is consistent with those democratic ideals to which lip-service is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randal-marlin/once-we-recognize-the-power-of-propaganda-we-need-to-ask-whether-its/) [Randal Marlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randal-marlin/) > [We fight to defend our democratic ideals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-austin/we-fight-to-defend-our-democratic-ideals/) [Lloyd Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-austin/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Delusion quotes > [Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-borne/getting-rid-of-a-delusion-makes-us-wiser-than-getting-hold-of-a-truth/) [Ludwig Borne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-borne/) > [If the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labour, entertainment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/if-the-idea-of-having-to-change-ourselves-makes-us-uncomfortable-we/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The Science Delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality in principle leaving only the details to be filled in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-sheldrake/the-science-delusion-is-the-belief-that-science-already-understands/) [Rupert Sheldrake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-sheldrake/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“we shouldn’t surrender our real world perception to a false reality too much or we may suffer the inevitable consequences of deluded thinking. Technology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-p-neary/we-shouldn-t-surrender-our-real-world-perception-to-a-false-reality/) [M.P. Neary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-p-neary/) > [Atheism Explained is a gem. It is clear, informative, well-argued, provocative, often witty, and unfailingly interesting. David Ramsay Steele ranges over so many issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-shearmur/atheism-explained-is-a-gem-it-is-clear-informative-well-argued/) [Jeremy Shearmur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-shearmur/) > [It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health. Considerably more than three parts of the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-booth/it-is-a-great-delusion-to-suppose-that-flesh-meat-of-any-kind-is/) [Catherine Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-booth/) > [The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass-delusions of this kind. 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And it's that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it's going to work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-have-a-theory-about-marriage-monsieur-boustouler-and-it-s-that/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Someone who has the delusion Glass, is made of, does not literally believe herself to be made of glass but rather feels fragile and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/someone-who-has-the-delusion-glass-is-made-of-does-not-literally/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [Paranoia is a state of heightened awareness. 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