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Ideals are imaginative understanding of that which is desirable in that which is possible.

— Walter Lippmann A Preface to Morals (1929)

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More quotes by Walter Lippmann

You cannot endow even the best machine with initiative; the jolliest steam-roller will not plant flowers.

A Preface to Politics (1913)

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.

The Stakes of Diplomacy (1915)

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

The Good Society (1937)

The self-evident truth which makes men invincible is that inalienably they are inviolate persons.

The Good Society (1937)

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

A Preface to Morals (1929)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Walter Lippmann (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.