This may sound a bit naive, but I got here by believing in big

When Howard Schultz said, “This may sound a bit naive, but I got here by believing in big dreams,” he spoke with the humility of a man who remembers the soil from which he rose. These words are not the boast of a conqueror, but the confession of a dreamer who dared to believe that faith in vision could triumph over the weight of reality. In that single line, Schultz reveals the secret of all who have changed the world — the courage to hold fast to belief when others see only impossibility, and to see the invisible as though it were already real.

Born into poverty in the projects of Brooklyn, Schultz knew early the ache of limitation. His father, injured and jobless, struggled to provide for the family. There were no golden gates or inherited fortunes awaiting him — only the quiet resolve that life could be more. To believe in “big dreams,” then, was not a luxury; it was survival. When he first encountered a small coffee shop in Seattle called Starbucks, he did not see what it was — he saw what it could become. He envisioned not a shop, but a community, a place where people gathered, where warmth and humanity were served alongside the cup. Many called this foolish, even naive. Yet, as he himself said, it was by believing in those big dreams that he built one of the most iconic brands on earth.

There is a paradox at the heart of his words — that naïveté, so often scorned by the world, is sometimes the very wellspring of greatness. The ancients understood this. Socrates, mocked for his simplicity, once said, “I know that I know nothing.” In that admission lay infinite curiosity — the seed of wisdom. Likewise, the one who dreams is not blind, but bold enough to see with the eyes of the heart. Schultz’s so-called naivety was not ignorance; it was innocence restored, a willingness to hope where cynicism would rather laugh. It was that rare blend of wonder and will that allows humanity to climb beyond what logic alone permits.

The history of humankind is written by those who believed in big dreams. The Wright brothers gazed at the sky and dared to imagine man might fly; they were dismissed as madmen until their machine kissed the wind. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a nation reborn in justice, and though the world called his vision impossible, his words still move the conscience of mankind. These figures were all accused of naïveté — and yet it was their belief, not their doubt, that shaped the ages. Schultz’s quote joins that sacred chorus: it is a testament to the power of faith when aligned with action.

But there is more to his teaching than ambition alone. He reminds us that belief must precede creation. The dreamer who waits for the world’s approval will never begin. To “believe in big dreams” is to accept the loneliness of vision — to build when the foundation is still invisible, to water a seed that has not yet sprouted. Schultz’s journey was filled with rejection, skepticism, and failure. Yet each time, he returned to that childlike faith that something better could be born through perseverance. The dreamer’s strength is not that he never doubts, but that he continues even while doubting.

In these words also lies a warning to those who have grown weary or hardened by the world. Many people begin with big dreams, but abandon them under the weight of practicality. They trade wonder for safety, imagination for approval. Schultz’s reflection is a call to remember — to return to the innocence of belief that once stirred the soul. The ancients would have called this “keeping the sacred fire” — the refusal to let the inner flame be extinguished by the winds of fear or failure. To believe in big dreams, even when mocked for it, is to keep alive that divine spark that separates humanity from despair.

So, my child, take this lesson to heart: do not fear being naïve, for naivety in pursuit of purpose is wisdom in disguise. Believe in your dreams, not because they are easy, but because they are worthy. Guard them as a shepherd guards his flock; feed them with effort, discipline, and faith. Let the world laugh if it must, for the laughter of cynics is the music of the small-hearted. And when your dream at last takes form — when the unseen becomes seen — remember these words of Schultz: that it was belief, not brilliance, that carried you there. For in every age, it is the believer in big dreams who awakens the world to what it can yet become.