--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's idealistic, it's for love and…" description: "\"“It's idealistic, it's for love and gentleness, it's close to nature, it hurts nobody, it's voluntary. I can't see anything wrong with any of that.' 'N..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png" --- # It's idealistic, it's for love and gentleness, it's close… ![“It's idealistic, it's for love and gentleness, it's close to nature, it hurts nobody, it's voluntary. I can't see anything wrong with any of that.' 'Neither can I. The only trouble is, this commune will be inhabited by and surrounded by members of the human race.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png) > ““It's idealistic, it's for love and gentleness, it's close to nature, it hurts nobody, it's voluntary. I can't see anything wrong with any of that.' 'Neither can I. The only trouble is, this commune will be inhabited by and surrounded by members of the human race.”” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Idealistic communities aim for purity and harmony, but practical coexistence with broader humanity introduces inevitable conflicts. **In simple terms:** Idealism meets reality in mixed societies. Key Takeaway Balance idealism with practical inclusion. Themes idealism community human nature conflict inclusion Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - urban planning - intentunteer groups - shared housing - cultural festivals Key Concepts social theory philosophy collective living Questions to Reflect On - Can pure ideals survive within diverse societies? - How do you reconcile personal values with communal demands? A Different Perspective Idealism may overlook necessary compromises. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commune/) [Commune Inhabited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commune-inhabited-1353627/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Crowds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crowds/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Idealism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealism/) [Idealistic Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idealistic-love-1353628/) [Individuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individuality/) [Inhabited Surrounded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inhabited-surrounded-1353630/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Privacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privacy/) [Trouble Commune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble-commune-1353629/) ## Related quotes > [I always believe that it's better to be idealistic in love than be that cynic. That's the only way to survive a relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonam-kapoor/i-always-believe-that-it-s-better-to-be-idealistic-in-love-than-be/) [Sonam Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonam-kapoor/) > [“I wouldn't live in a colony like that, myself, for a thousand dollars an hour. I wouldn't want it next door. I'm not too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-wouldn-t-live-in-a-colony-like-that-myself-for-a-thousand-dollars/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Sometimes I feel people think I live on a commune but I don't. We are all solar, though. There are no power lines. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/sometimes-i-feel-people-think-i-live-on-a-commune-but-i-don-t-we-are/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [As for the system of the Commune, which makes it impossible for a man to rise or fall, it is merely the old caste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/as-for-the-system-of-the-commune-which-makes-it-impossible-for-a-man/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/commune-with-your-own-heart-upon-your-bed-and-be-still/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [I'd like to start some form of city-type commune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-head/i-d-like-to-start-some-form-of-city-type-commune/) [Murray Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-head/) > [Never a day passes but that I do myself the honor to commune with some of nature's varied forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington-carver/never-a-day-passes-but-that-i-do-myself-the-honor-to-commune-with/) [George Washington Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington-carver/) > [A commune is where people join together to share their lack of wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/a-commune-is-where-people-join-together-to-share-their-lack-of-wealth/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [The commune movement is part of a reawakening of belief in the possibilities for utopia that existed in the nineteenth century and exist again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosabeth-moss-kanter/the-commune-movement-is-part-of-a-reawakening-of-belief-in-the/) [Rosabeth Moss Kanter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosabeth-moss-kanter/) > [Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/commune-with-your-own-heart-on-your-bed-and-be-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Lisbon, to me, is the Lisbon of Pessoa. Just like London is Woolf’s, or rather, Mrs. Dalloway’s. Barcelona is Gaudí's and Rome is da…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/lisbon-to-me-is-the-lisbon-of-pessoa-just-like-london-is-woolf-s-or/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“Here too, as in the Commune almost a century earlier, the struggle was articulated around the hope that 'the antithesis between the everyday and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/here-too-as-in-the-commune-almost-a-century-earlier-the-struggle-was/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-kidder/i-m-going-to-a-commune-in-vermont-and-will-deal-with-no-unit-of-time/) [Tracy Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-kidder/) > [If at all possible, commune with nature daily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-at-all-possible-commune-with-nature-daily/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then, all of a sudden, he stopped and nobody heard from him or got a response to orders. At this point Rod Walker looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-davis/then-all-of-a-sudden-he-stopped-and-nobody-heard-from-him-or-got-a/) [Fred Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-davis/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Commune quotes > [Sometimes I feel people think I live on a commune but I don't. We are all solar, though. There are no power lines. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/sometimes-i-feel-people-think-i-live-on-a-commune-but-i-don-t-we-are/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [If at all possible, commune with nature daily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-at-all-possible-commune-with-nature-daily/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-kidder/i-m-going-to-a-commune-in-vermont-and-will-deal-with-no-unit-of-time/) [Tracy Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-kidder/) > [“Here too, as in the Commune almost a century earlier, the struggle was articulated around the hope that 'the antithesis between the everyday and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/here-too-as-in-the-commune-almost-a-century-earlier-the-struggle-was/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Lisbon, to me, is the Lisbon of Pessoa. Just like London is Woolf’s, or rather, Mrs. Dalloway’s. Barcelona is Gaudí's and Rome is da…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/lisbon-to-me-is-the-lisbon-of-pessoa-just-like-london-is-woolf-s-or/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/commune-with-your-own-heart-on-your-bed-and-be-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The commune movement is part of a reawakening of belief in the possibilities for utopia that existed in the nineteenth century and exist again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosabeth-moss-kanter/the-commune-movement-is-part-of-a-reawakening-of-belief-in-the/) [Rosabeth Moss Kanter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosabeth-moss-kanter/) > [A commune is where people join together to share their lack of wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/a-commune-is-where-people-join-together-to-share-their-lack-of-wealth/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [Never a day passes but that I do myself the honor to commune with some of nature's varied forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington-carver/never-a-day-passes-but-that-i-do-myself-the-honor-to-commune-with/) [George Washington Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington-carver/) > [I'd like to start some form of city-type commune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-head/i-d-like-to-start-some-form-of-city-type-commune/) [Murray Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-head/) > [Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/commune-with-your-own-heart-upon-your-bed-and-be-still/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [As for the system of the Commune, which makes it impossible for a man to rise or fall, it is merely the old caste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/as-for-the-system-of-the-commune-which-makes-it-impossible-for-a-man/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [“I wouldn't live in a colony like that, myself, for a thousand dollars an hour. I wouldn't want it next door. I'm not too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-wouldn-t-live-in-a-colony-like-that-myself-for-a-thousand-dollars/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Then, all of a sudden, he stopped and nobody heard from him or got a response to orders. At this point Rod Walker looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-davis/then-all-of-a-sudden-he-stopped-and-nobody-heard-from-him-or-got-a/) [Fred Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-davis/) > [I grew up in a commune where no one considered me female, particularly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hersh/i-grew-up-in-a-commune-where-no-one-considered-me-female-particularly/) [Kristin Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hersh/) [Browse all 16 Commune quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commune/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's idealistic, it's for love and gentleness, it's close to nature, it hurts nobody, it's voluntary. I can't see anything wrong with any of that.' 'Neither can I. The only trouble is, this commune will be inhabited by and surrounded by members of the human race.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stegner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentleness-it-s-close-to-nature-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Commune" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentleness-it-s-close-to-nature-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/067/wallace-stegner-1352_commune_it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentle_2532075.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's idealistic, it's for love and gentleness, it's close to nature, it hurts nobody, it's voluntary. I…” — Wallace Stegner", "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": "Wallace Stegner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It's idealistic, it's for love and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentleness-it-s-close-to-nature-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/it-s-idealistic-it-s-for-love-and-gentleness-it-s-close-to-nature-it/#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 } } ] } ```