The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

IDEALISM AND REALISM

An idea is, in the end, always stronger than circumstances. (J.S. Bach, p. 36)

It is through the idealism of youth that man catches sight of truth, and in that idealism he possesses a wealth which he must never exchange for anything else. (Memoirs of Childhood and Youth, p. 99).

The idealism that I preach is no nebulous thing; it has stood the test of practical achievement. (Revue des Deux Mondes, p. 404.)

I place at opposite extremes the spirit of idealism and the spirit of realism. The spirit of idealism means that men and women of the period arrive at ethical ideals through thinking, and that these ideals are so powerful that men say: We will use them to control reality. We will transform reality in accordance with these ideals. The spirit of idealism desires to have power over the spirit of realism. The spirit of practical realism, however, holds it false to apply ideals to what is happening. The spirit of realism has no power over reality. If a generation lives with these ideas, it is subject to reality. This is the tragedy which is being enacted in our age. For what is characteristic of our age is that we no longer really believe in social or spiritual progress, but face reality powerless.

(Christian Century, 1483.)