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Imagination Quotes

The inner world that fuels everything made real.

These imagination quotes link creativity to childhood spontaneity, personal experience, and even economic theory, with one quote suggesting that imagination in economics lags behind the systems it studies. Musicians here describe imagination as something that has to stay current to keep capturing attention. See Dream for a related theme.

The peculiar fascination which the South held over my imagination and my limited capital decided me in favor of Atlanta University; so about the last of September I bade farewell to the friends and scenes of my boyhood and boarded...

Quotes by James Weldon Johnson

I don't think you can define how you acquire your imagination any more than you can define why one person has a sense of humor and another doesn't. But I certainly would lean to the side that says all those...

Quotes by James Tate

But who can paint like Nature? Can imagination boast, amid its gay creation, hues like hers?

Quotes by James Thomson

I've never really had a problem with the imagination level of an audience. They're always smarter and savvier than any studio exec will give them credit for.

Quotes by James Van Der Beek

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character.

Quotes by James Russell Lowell

And, as I have said, it's made me think twice about the imagination. If the spirits aren't external, how astonishing the mediums become! Victor Hugo said of his voices that they were like his own mental powers multiplied by five.

Quotes by James Merrill

Anyone who said he wasn't afraid during the civil rights movement was either a liar or without imagination. I was scared all the time. My hands didn't shake but inside I was shaking.

Quotes by James L. Farmer, Jr.

I've always loved comic books. As a kid, I used to read cowboy stories and historical comics about other worlds, unknown places that would take me out of myself and which helped to develop my imagination.

Quotes by James Herbert

Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that's all you have.

Quotes by James Dean

I love the idea of exploring the Victorian imagination and what Victorians thought the world of fantasy would look like.

Quotes by James Bobin

I tried to stir the imagination and enthusiasms of students to take risks, to do what they were most afraid of doing, to widen their horizons of action.

Quotes by James Broughton

In research, I wanted to establish the medicinal chemistry/bioassay conjugation as an academic pursuit, as exciting to the imagination as astrophysics or molecular biology.

Quotes by James Black

Ideas control the world.

Quotes by James A. Garfield

The really great writers are people like Emily Bronte who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.

Quotes by James A. Michener

A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with.

Quotes by James Anthony Froude

I visualize things in my mind before I have to do them. It's like having a mental workshop.

Quotes by Jack Youngblood

I guess just a lively imagination is the best effort an actor can have.

Quotes by Jacki Weaver

Then there was Clark Ashton Smith, who wrote for Weird Tales and who had a wild imagination. He wasn't a very talented writer, but his imagination was wonderful.

Quotes by Jack Vance

We lived on isolated farms and ranches, far from anybody, and when I was young I knew very few other kids, so I lived to a great extent in my imagination.

Quotes by Jack Williamson

Life would have been absolutely empty without imagination.

Quotes by Jack Williamson

Frequently Asked Questions

What roles does imagination play across these quotes?
It shows up as something actors try to reconnect with from childhood, as a wellspring for creative work, as a limitation among economists trying to keep up with capitalism, and as the spark that pulls artists into the studio. If you enjoy quotes about creativity and possibility, our Dream quotes are a good match.
Is there a quote about reconnecting with childhood imagination?
Yes — it says actors "always want to reach back to being a child and having the spontaneity and the imagination of a child."
Does one quote describe drawing inspiration from a wild imagination?
Yes. It says inspiration comes from "love, heartache, mistakes, hopes, regrets, successes and faith," adding that "it helps to have a wild imagination." This mix of imagination and emotion connects well with our Hope quotes.
Is there a quote about economists and imagination?
Yes — it suggests that "the imagination of economists, including its critics, lags well behind its own inventiveness." For more on how imagination shapes what's ahead, see our Future quotes.
Does one quote talk about imagination pulling someone into the studio?
Yes — it says influences need to "capture your imagination and make you want to go into the studio." Creative work often happens in solitude — see our Alone quotes for more on that side of the process.

Browse Hope or Future for more on where imagination can lead.