Dream On!

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”
-T. E. Lawrence


This quote by T.E Lawrence really tells a lot about people’s perceptions of dreams. Many people dream of many things but never really act to make them come true, they just wake in the day realizing it never happened. This quote defines much of my personal philosophy in life and means to me that, you must act upon your dreams and make them possible, not just imagine them. No one in the world would have ever really succeeded in life without doing so. If you just dreamt of building a large company and being a big success, you will just wake to find that in reality nothing happened. You must act, and dream with eyes wide open, making your dreams possible!

A text that echos the meaning of this quote much to me would be no other than the novel known as “The Great Gatsby” (About “The Great Gatsby” Click Here). The plot revolves around a man known as Jay Gatsby, and his unending desire to fulfill his dream. He would be the prime example of a dreamer of the day, acting upon his dreams to make them possible. Ever since he was a boy, he had a dream of become someone of worth and wealth. At the time he did, he had nothing and things seemed hopeless, that it could only be a dream. Nevertheless he acted to make his dreams possible and his desire to reach them fueled his ambition and things became all nearly possible for him. He became wealthy, living the American Dream, but not because he just imagined about it. He worked to achieve it, taking his dreams into action. Men like Gatsby lead our nation to what it is like today, filled with many dreamers of the day.

In history many people have had many dreams, and pushed to make them exist. One significant event would be the African American Civil Rights Movement. The man who lead the movement, truly lived by this quote. Martin Luther King Jr., he had a dream and took actions to make them come true. He struggled against black and white segregation, and unfair treatment during his time, but he had a dream. A dream that all men would be equal and live together, and he didn’t just dream of this in his sleep. He envisioned it during the day, taking actual actions to make his dream possible. Some would be petitions, speeches, and movements encouraging others to take actions to their dreams as well. Now their dreams have become the reality, all through actions that made dreams possible.

In my life, this quote follows all my dreams. Nearly all I do is taking my dreams into action; taking me one step closer, until I reach them. During my 8th grade graduation speech, I spoke to my fellow classmates, using this quote to help project their futures and dreams. I believe that you must not just dream of what you want to be or do in life, but act to make it come true. At that point in time, everyone was taking the next step in their lives a moving onto high school, which can critically effect their futures. You must dream, dream with open eyes to turn those dreams into reality. So I tell you like I did my classmates, dream my friends, dream with eyes wide open, for only you can make them come true!