--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write toward both idealism and reality…" description: "\"I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are and how I wish they could be.\" — Roxane Gay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg" --- # I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are… ![“I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are and how I wish they could be.” quote by Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg) > “I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are and how I wish they could be.” [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She writes from both idealism and reality, contrasting how things are with how she wishes they could be, highlighting tension between aspiration and truth. **In simple terms:** Idealism vs. reality tension. Key Takeaway Bridge the gap between vision and reality. Themes idealism reality creativity Mood inspirational analytical Type creative personal When to use this quote - writing workshops - goal setting - personal development Key Concepts psychology artistic process Questions to Reflect On - What ideal drives you? - How can you make it realistic? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Idealism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealism/) [Idealism Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealism-reality-2671193/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-things-301159/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Idealism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-idealism-4764067/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Reality - Dreams = Animal Being Reality + Dreams = A Heart-Ache (usually called Idealism) Reality + Humor = Realism (also called Conservatism) Dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-yutang/reality-dreams-animal-being-reality-dreams-a-heart-ache-usually/) [Lin Yutang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-yutang/) > [I don't know how everybody else feels, but I just long for reality rather than these made-up things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/i-don-t-know-how-everybody-else-feels-but-i-just-long-for-reality/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [I've always been kind of an escape artist. I think that I thought the day-to-day reality of things was unbearably flat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-stone/i-ve-always-been-kind-of-an-escape-artist-i-think-that-i-thought-the/) [Sharon Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-stone/) > [“Live, you say, in the present; Live only in the present. But I don’t want the present, I want reality; I want things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-caeiro/live-you-say-in-the-present-live-only-in-the-present-but-i-don-t-want/) [Alberto Caeiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-caeiro/) > [But when one believes in the reality of things, making them visible by artificial means is not quite the same as feeling that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-when-one-believes-in-the-reality-of-things-making-them-visible-by/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“To clarify, things that fight against reality are those things we tend not to accept and therefore never let go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-g-roldan/to-clarify-things-that-fight-against-reality-are-those-things-we-tend/) [Alexis G. Roldan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-g-roldan/) > [Some people become the reality of the many things we dream of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jey-lopez/some-people-become-the-reality-of-the-many-things-we-dream-of/) [Jey Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jey-lopez/) > [For, try as we may, we cannot get behind the appearence of things to reality. And the terrible reason may be that there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/for-try-as-we-may-we-cannot-get-behind-the-appearence-of-things-to/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“The subject matter. . . is not that collection of solid, static objects extended in space but the life that is lived in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-subject-matter-is-not-that-collection-of-solid-static-objects-2/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I use to do things that changed my perception of reality now I do things that change my perception to reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/i-use-to-do-things-that-changed-my-perception-of-reality-now-i-do/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [The reality of things going on around me is more interesting than the fantasies of the world I work in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-hopper/the-reality-of-things-going-on-around-me-is-more-interesting-than-the/) [Dennis Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-hopper/) > [I realize now that the reality of things is not something you convey to people but something you make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-realize-now-that-the-reality-of-things-is-not-something-you-convey/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I think you just have to give yourself a dose of reality. Things don't always work out the way you want them to in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brady-quinn/i-think-you-just-have-to-give-yourself-a-dose-of-reality-things-don-t/) [Brady Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brady-quinn/) > [The only shared reality we have is things we have seen on television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armando-iannucci/the-only-shared-reality-we-have-is-things-we-have-seen-on-television/) [Armando Iannucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armando-iannucci/) > [The startling reality of things is my discovery every single day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/the-startling-reality-of-things-is-my-discovery-every-single-day/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## More by Roxane Gay > [“Human endurance fascinates me, probably too much because more often than not, I think of life in terms of enduring instead of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/human-endurance-fascinates-me-probably-too-much-because-more-often/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Being useful was a balm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/being-useful-was-a-balm/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [No woman or man is any one thing and the men in my stories, well, some of them are good and some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/no-woman-or-man-is-any-one-thing-and-the-men-in-my-stories-well-some/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I was a daydreamer and I resented being pulled out of my daydreams to deal with the business of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-was-a-daydreamer-and-i-resented-being-pulled-out-of-my-daydreams-to/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Feminism is, I hope, a way to a better future for everyone who inhabits this world. Feminism should not be something that needs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/feminism-is-i-hope-a-way-to-a-better-future-for-everyone-who-inhabits/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Fiction offers escape but it also interrogates the world we live in, whether the past, present or future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/fiction-offers-escape-but-it-also-interrogates-the-world-we-live-in/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I've noticed while cooking, how ingredients in their individual and naked state and be a bit repulsive but necessary, kind of like people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-ve-noticed-while-cooking-how-ingredients-in-their-individual-and/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I shouted, “This is not right,” knowing my words were useless. There’s no room for such distinctions in a country where too many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-shouted-this-is-not-right-knowing-my-words-were-useless-there-s-no/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Most of my favorite tweets go completely ignored but most of my favorite tweets are probably really lame or inside jokes between me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/most-of-my-favorite-tweets-go-completely-ignored-but-most-of-my/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“What about other women of color? For Hispanic and Latina women, Indian women, Middle Eastern women, Asian women, their absence in popular culture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/what-about-other-women-of-color-for-hispanic-and-latina-women-indian/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [There has been, and there will continue to be, vigorous discussions about race in America. I worry that little will come of these discussions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/there-has-been-and-there-will-continue-to-be-vigorous-discussions/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/writing-at-its-best-and-truest-can-offer-solace-and-salvation-for/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“I knew I was in love with The Hunger Games when I did not want to get off the treadmill”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-knew-i-was-in-love-with-the-hunger-games-when-i-did-not-want-to-get/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Just because you survive something does not mean you are strong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/just-because-you-survive-something-does-not-mean-you-are-strong/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“Celebrities understand the economy of thinness, and most of them are willing to participate in that economy, taking to social media, where they pose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/celebrities-understand-the-economy-of-thinness-and-most-of-them-are/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) [Explore all 503 Roxane Gay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) ## More Idealism quotes > [“I'm an idealist who has outgrown my idealism I have nothing to do the rest of my life but do it and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-an-idealist-who-has-outgrown-my-idealism-i-have-nothing-to-do-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [What the nostalgic past and the imaginary future seem to share in common is a form of idealism, perhaps a dream of wholeness. Our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/what-the-nostalgic-past-and-the-imaginary-future-seem-to-share-in/) [Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/) > [In a democracy, the one thing that cannot be done is to destroy its trust, its hope, its idealism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-heinz/in-a-democracy-the-one-thing-that-cannot-be-done-is-to-destroy-its/) [Teresa Heinz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-heinz/) > [Love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/love-your-country-not-for-her-power-or-wealth-but-for-her/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“David Hume, in a moment of acute skepticism, felt panicky in the solitude of his study and had to go out and join his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/david-hume-in-a-moment-of-acute-skepticism-felt-panicky-in-the/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [I see history as really cyclical in terms of the intense idealism, and the desire to create a better life outside of societal norms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/i-see-history-as-really-cyclical-in-terms-of-the-intense-idealism-and/) [Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/) > [I unconsciously decided that, even if it wasn't an ideal world, it should be. So I painted only the ideal aspects of it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-rockwell/i-unconsciously-decided-that-even-if-it-wasn-t-an-ideal-world-it/) [Norman Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-rockwell/) > [Only the broken-hearted idealist can become a cynic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-clifton/only-the-broken-hearted-idealist-can-become-a-cynic/) [Mark Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-clifton/) > [Without magic, there is no art. Without art, there is no idealism. Without idealism, there is no integrity. Without integrity, there is nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/without-magic-there-is-no-art-without-art-there-is-no-idealism/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Women have been charged with deviousness and duplicity since the dawn of civilization so they have never been able to pretend that their masks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/women-have-been-charged-with-deviousness-and-duplicity-since-the-dawn/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuri-orlov/they-say-evil-prevails-when-good-men-fail-to-act-what-they-ought-to/) [Yuri Orlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuri-orlov/) > [“The biggest catch need not be grandest at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-harglesis/the-biggest-catch-need-not-be-grandest-at-all/) [Andy Harglesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-harglesis/) > [“You know, the whole thing about perfectionism. The perfectionism is very dangerous. Because of course if your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/you-know-the-whole-thing-about-perfectionism-the-perfectionism-is/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“An idealist is someone who helps other people to be prosperous”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-henry-ford/an-idealist-is-someone-who-helps-other-people-to-be-prosperous/) [Ford Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-henry-ford/) > [Could beauty be beaten out, O youth the cities have sent to strike at each other's strength, it is you who have kept her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/could-beauty-be-beaten-out-o-youth-the-cities-have-sent-to-strike-at/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) [Browse all 584 Idealism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are and how I wish they could be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roxane Gay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality-how-things-are-and-how-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Idealism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality-how-things-are-and-how-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef4/roxane-gay-520_idealism_i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality_1377871.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are and how I wish they could be.” — Roxane Gay", "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": "Roxane Gay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I write toward both idealism and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality-how-things-are-and-how-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-write-toward-both-idealism-and-reality-how-things-are-and-how-i/#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 } } ] } ```