Are ideals foolish things to have?
by 
Inspector Javert
ANSWERS: 4
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Maybe, but I think they're also absolutely essential. You need to have something Utopian to believe in to keep you sane. If that's foolish does that really matter?
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I don't think so. Ideals are motivation. Ideals are standards. Without them your activity and thinking are directionless. I think of ideals as personal growth goals. Some examples would be honesty in all my dealings, objectivity in all my decision-making, and making the effort to listen patiently to others. There are also a couple of problems with having ideals. For example, you probably can't live up to them 100% of the time. Since it's unhealthy to continually kick yourself for coming up short it can lower your self-respect, so it's important to keep ideals in perspective. Another possible problem with having ideals is that as you mature and gain more wisdom over the years, you may realize that your ideals need revamping, and it's important to be able to objectively re-evaluate them, discard those that you are now wise enough to realize are unrealistic or naive. The ideals you choose can be foolish, but having ideals isn't foolish.
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No, it is foolish not to have ideals.
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That may depend on exactly what ideals ... it is possible to have ideals that are foolish, but it is not foolish to have ideals. A person may be better than their reputation, but they can never be better than their ideals. It gives us something that is perfect to aim for, strive for, yet in human error, fall short of ... no one is perfect, but it is nice to have an idea of perfection as a target for life. It sure beats a total apathy.
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