--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The preoccupation with what should be is…" description: "\"The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.\" — Jose Ortega y Gasset" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg" --- # The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only… ![“The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.” quote by Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg) > “The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.” [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Only after fully appreciating reality can we responsibly consider ideals. **In simple terms:** Respect reality before idealizing. Key Takeaway Ground aspirations in real understanding. Themes philosophy reality idealism Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - personal goals - academic research Key Concepts epistemology valuation ethical judgment Questions to Reflect On - What truths do you overlook? - How do you balance ideal and real? A Different Perspective Idealism can ignore practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Estimable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/estimable-890645/) [Estimable Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/estimable-respect-4884815/) [Exhausted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhausted/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Preoccupation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preoccupation/) [Preoccupation Estimable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preoccupation-estimable-4884813/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Respect Exhausted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect-exhausted-4884814/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) ## Related quotes > [Would you be esteemed? Live with persons that are estimable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-therese-de-marguenat-de-courcelles/would-you-be-esteemed-live-with-persons-that-are-estimable/) [Anne-Therese de Marguenat de Courcelles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-therese-de-marguenat-de-courcelles/) > [“If you want self-esteem.” “Do estimable acts” ~ V, from A Piece of Cake: Memoir”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cupcake-brown/if-you-want-self-esteem-do-estimable-acts-v-from-a-piece-of-cake/) [Cupcake Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cupcake-brown/) > [When we let go of yearning for the future, preoccupation with the past, and strategies to protect the present, there is nowhere left to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/when-we-let-go-of-yearning-for-the-future-preoccupation-with-the-past/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [I have a very simple mantra and it's this: I want to make black cinema with the power, beauty, and alienation of black music.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-jafa/i-have-a-very-simple-mantra-and-it-s-this-i-want-to-make-black-cinema/) [Arthur Jafa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-jafa/) > [To wait for hours to buy a train ticket or to see a doctor is accepted as a normal way of doing things. Privacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-travis/to-wait-for-hours-to-buy-a-train-ticket-or-to-see-a-doctor-is/) [Nancy Travis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-travis/) > [A priest is a man vowed, trained, and consecrated, a man belonging to a special corps, and necessarily with an intense esprit de corps.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/a-priest-is-a-man-vowed-trained-and-consecrated-a-man-belonging-to-a/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Buddhism resonated very powerfully with a lot of my preoccupations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/buddhism-resonated-very-powerfully-with-a-lot-of-my-preoccupations/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-gleeson/this-constant-unproductive-preoccupation-with-all-the-things-we-have/) [Kerry Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-gleeson/) > [There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/there-s-a-preoccupation-with-memory-and-the-operation-of-memory-and-a/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [My major preoccupation is the question, 'What is reality?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/my-major-preoccupation-is-the-question-what-is-reality/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [Notions of chance and fate are the preoccupations of men engaged in rash undertakings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/notions-of-chance-and-fate-are-the-preoccupations-of-men-engaged-in/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [If you have an over-preoccupation with perception and trying to please people's expectations, then you can go mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/if-you-have-an-over-preoccupation-with-perception-and-trying-to/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/go-to-the-pine-if-you-want-to-learn-about-the-pine-or-to-the-bamboo/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/one-response-was-given-by-the-innkeeper-when-mary-and-joseph-wanted/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I'm simply saying that our deepest thoughts, desires and preoccupations manifest themselves in art, whether we intend them to or not. That's what art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/i-m-simply-saying-that-our-deepest-thoughts-desires-and/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) ## More by Jose Ortega y Gasset > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits into two classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/for-there-is-no-doubt-that-the-most-radical-division-that-is-possible/) [José Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/to-be-surprised-to-wonder-is-to-begin-to-understand-this-is-the-sport/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Law is born from despair of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/law-is-born-from-despair-of-human-nature/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-masses-think-that-is-is-easy-to-flee-from-reality-when-it-is-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-librarian-s-mission-should-be-not-like-up-to-now-a-mere-handling/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Here, then, is the point at which I see the new mission of the librarian rise up incomparably higher than all those preceding. Up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/here-then-is-the-point-at-which-i-see-the-new-mission-of-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Explore all 204 Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Exhausted quotes > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [If you don't have to drag yourself off the field exhausted after 90 minutes, you can't claim to have done your best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nichols/if-you-don-t-have-to-drag-yourself-off-the-field-exhausted-after-90/) [Bill Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nichols/) > [I remember Terry being exhausted from his latest Super Bowl win and all the things that go with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fouts/i-remember-terry-being-exhausted-from-his-latest-super-bowl-win-and/) [Dan Fouts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fouts/) > [I'm always exhausted after a show, even if it's just half an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-lo/i-m-always-exhausted-after-a-show-even-if-it-s-just-half-an-hour/) [Tove Lo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-lo/) > [What we are only now beginning to fully realize is that in seeking material pleasure too constantly, the capacity for enjoyment or fulfillment decreases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-campbell/what-we-are-only-now-beginning-to-fully-realize-is-that-in-seeking/) [Alex Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-campbell/) > [I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/i-have-seen-war-i-have-seen-war-on-land-and-sea-i-have-seen-blood/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [ Jowett, in his day, did probably more than any other single man to let some fresh air into the exhausted atmosphere of the \[Oxford\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/jowett-in-his-day-did-probably-more-than-any-other-single-man-to-let/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) > [In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-musto/in-the-last-few-years-the-very-idea-of-telling-the-truth-the-whole/) [Michael Musto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-musto/) > [When I walk off the field exhausted, drenched in sweat, knowing I pushed myself to the physical, mental, and emotional limits, there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-lohman/when-i-walk-off-the-field-exhausted-drenched-in-sweat-knowing-i/) [Joanna Lohman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-lohman/) > [There is a thing inherent and natural which existed before heaven and earth. Motionless and fathomless, It stands alone and never changes; It pervades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/there-is-a-thing-inherent-and-natural-which-existed-before-heaven-and/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I like to sleep so much that I wake up exhausted from sleeping so hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-richie/i-like-to-sleep-so-much-that-i-wake-up-exhausted-from-sleeping-so-hard/) [Nicole Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-richie/) > [...the framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom and forbearance in its formation if it was intended to be broken up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/the-framers-of-our-constitution-never-exhausted-so-much-labor-wisdom/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [I want to explain how exhausted I am. Even in my dreams. How I wake up tired. How I’m being drowned by some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-want-to-explain-how-exhausted-i-am-even-in-my-dreams-how-i-wake-up/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Special-interest magazines are dangerous places for writers to start out in because the writing quickly falls into a routine and people are likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/special-interest-magazines-are-dangerous-places-for-writers-to-start/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) [Browse all 822 Exhausted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhausted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jose Ortega y Gasset" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is-estimable-only-when-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exhausted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is-estimable-only-when-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f22/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_exhausted_the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is_1397045.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.” — Jose Ortega y Gasset", "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": "Jose Ortega y Gasset", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The preoccupation with what should be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is-estimable-only-when-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-preoccupation-with-what-should-be-is-estimable-only-when-the/#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 } } ] } ```