QUIXOTISM

'Quixotism' (IPA: [ˈkwɪksəˌtɪzm]) is the description of a person or an act that is caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals. It also serves to describe an idealism without regard to practicality. An impulsive person or act can be regarded as quixotic.
Quixotism is usualy related to "over-idealism", meaning an idealism that doesn't take the consequences into account. It is also related to naïve romanticism and to utopianism.

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Origin

Usage

Origin

Quixotism as a term or a quality appeared after the publication of ''El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha'' in 1605. The hero of this novel, that is written by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, dreams up an romantic ideal world which he believes to be real, and acts on this idealism, which most famously leads him into imaginary fights with windmills that he regards as giants.
Already in the 17th century the term 'Quixote' was used to describe a person that does not distinguish between reality and imagination. The poet John Cleveland wrote in 1644, in his book ''The character of a London diurnall'':
:"The Quixotes of this Age fight with the Wind-mills of their owne Heads" [1]
The word 'Quixotism' is mentioned, for the first time, in ''Pulpit Popery, True Popery'' (1688):
:"All the Heroical Fictions of Ecclesiastical Quixotism"

Usage

:"At worst his scruples must have been quixotic, not malicious" (Louis Auchincloss)