Like matter itself, an ideal is mutable, but indestructible. It does not die; it only undergoes a change.
An idealist is ahead of his time only in the sense that he is articulate. The same is true of a nation. For even primitive people, even effete races have a message for those above or below them. The heritage of the Ideal, however small can not be exhausted.
There is no such thing as disappointment for those who continue to cherish the selflessness of which is born the noblest inner self. There is no such thing as failure for those who invest in the potentialities of the Ideal of the Soul.
We are all idealists in that we are ever discontented with the present state of the Ego and the World.