The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Imagination
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 their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did.
T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars of Wisdom · 1926

Quotes

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

Henry David Thoreau · Walden, 1849 · Primary source

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

William Blake · The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1790 · Primary source

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

William Blake · Auguries of Innocence, 1803 · Primary source

“You ought to dream. All our biggest business men have been dreamers.”

Ernest Hemingway · The Sun Also Rises, 1926 · Primary source

“Without imagination not much can be done.”

Winston Churchill · Never give in, never, 1941 · Primary source

“Imagination rules the world.”

Napoleon Bonaparte · The Memorial of Saint Helena, 1824 · Secondary source

“There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Beauty, 1841 · Primary source

“Things are pretty, graceful, rich, elegant, handsome, but, until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Beauty, 1841 · Primary source

“I must Create a System, or be enslav’d by another Mans
I will not Reason & Compare: my business is to Create”

William Blake · Jerusalem: The Emanation of The Giant Albion, 1804 · Primary source

“How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!”

Thomas Jefferson · Letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith, 1825 · Primary source

“Pleasure disappoints; possibility does not.”

Søren Kierkegaard · Either/Or, 1843 · Primary source

“Real enjoyment consists not in what one enjoys but in the idea.”

Søren Kierkegaard · Either/Or, 1843 · Primary source

“The joy of anticipation is the greatest.”

Søren Kierkegaard · No reliable source

Works

William Blake · 1789
Songs of Innocence

A collection of poems exploring childhood, innocence, faith, nature and social vulnerability through simple language and symbolic imagery.

Read summary·Explore 0 quotes
William Blake · 1790
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

A visionary critique of conventional morality and organised religion, arguing that opposing forces such as reason and energy are necessary to human life.

Read summary·Explore 7 quotes

Related Tags

Purpose 31 Courage 25 Action 23 Perception 20 Nature 20 Uncertainty 20 Ambition 17 Beauty 14 Aspiration 12 Fear 12 Leadership 9 Originality 9 Memory 7 Possibility 6 Aesthetics 6 Anticipation 6 Desire 6 Public opinion 5 Pleasure 5 Entrepreneurship 4 Foresight 4 Persuasion 4 Worry 4 Enjoyment 4 Innocence 4 Illuminated books 4 Inspiration 3 Infinity 3 Reality 3 Control 3 Expectation 3 Joy 3 Religion 3 Risk perception 2 Creative independence 2 Childhood 2 Contraries 2 Political symbolism 1 Emotional response 1 Practical action 1 Human limitation 1 Eternity 1 System-building 1 Intellectual autonomy 1 Self-will 1 Misattribution 1 Vision 1 Good and evil 1 Religious criticism 1 Proverbs of Hell 1