--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The standards of judgment must be rooted…" description: "\"The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png" --- # The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and… ![“The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be.” quote by Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png) > “The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be.” [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Judgment should reflect real conditions, not idealized fantasies, grounding decisions in lived reality. **In simple terms:** Judge based on reality, not fantasies. Key Takeaway Align judgments with actual circumstances. Themes reality judgment idealism Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - community work - personal decisions - media analysis Key Concepts social critique pragmatism Questions to Reflect On - How do your fantasies shape your judgments? - What realities are you ignoring? A Different Perspective Idealized views can overlook practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Rules for radicals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules-for-radicals/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I don't know what happened to your parents or why they did what they did. But in all the world, I could have wished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stephens/i-don-t-know-what-happened-to-your-parents-or-why-they-did-what-they/) [John Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stephens/) > [I do not know what happened with your parents or why they did what they did. 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Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/pick-the-target-freeze-it-personalize-it-and-polarize-it-cut-off-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The cry of the Have-Nots has never been "give us our hearts," but always "get off our backs"; they ask not for love but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-cry-of-the-have-nots-has-never-been-give-us-our-hearts-but-always/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) ## More by Saul Alinsky > [The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-threat-is-usually-more-terrifying-than-the-thing-itself/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The very first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-very-first-radical-known-to-man-who-rebelled-against-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [I've never joined any organization - not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/i-ve-never-joined-any-organization-not-even-the-ones-i-ve-organized/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Everybody owned stock in the Capone mob; in a way, he was a public benefactor. I remember one time when he arrived at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/everybody-owned-stock-in-the-capone-mob-in-a-way-he-was-a-public/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [First rule of change is controversy. You can't get away from it for the simple reason all issues are controversial. 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Go after people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/pick-the-target-freeze-it-personalize-it-and-polarize-it-cut-off-the/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The first step in community organization is community disorganization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-first-step-in-community-organization-is-community-disorganization/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [Power just goes to two poles — to those who've got money, and those who've got people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/power-just-goes-to-two-poles-to-those-who-ve-got-money-and-those-who/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [The establishment can accept being screwed, but not being laughed at](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-establishment-can-accept-being-screwed-but-not-being-laughed-at/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [To the organizer, compromise is a key and beautiful word. It is always present in the pragmatics of operation... 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Von](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-von/) [Browse all 5,469 Fantasy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Saul Alinsky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted-in-the-whys-and-wherefores/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fantasy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted-in-the-whys-and-wherefores/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/saul-alinsky-3048_fantasy_the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted_244429.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it…” — Saul Alinsky", "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": "Saul Alinsky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The standards of judgment must be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted-in-the-whys-and-wherefores/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/the-standards-of-judgment-must-be-rooted-in-the-whys-and-wherefores/#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 } } ] } ```