--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I maintain that anyone who still refuses…" description: "\"I maintain that anyone who still refuses to see, for instance, a horse galloping on a tomato, must be an idiot. A tomato is also a child's balloon - Su..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/andr-breton-2478_children_i-maintain-that-anyone-who-still-refuses_2602138.jpg" --- # I maintain that anyone who still refuses to see, for… ![“I maintain that anyone who still refuses to see, for instance, a horse galloping on a tomato, must be an idiot. A tomato is also a child's balloon - Surrealism, again, having suppressed the word "like."” quote by Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/andr-breton-2478_children_i-maintain-that-anyone-who-still-refuses_2602138.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/andr-breton-2478_children_i-maintain-that-anyone-who-still-refuses_2602138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/andr-breton-2478_children_i-maintain-that-anyone-who-still-refuses_2602138.jpg) > “I maintain that anyone who still refuses to see, for instance, a horse galloping on a tomato, must be an idiot. A tomato is also a child's balloon - Surrealism, again, having suppressed the word "like."” [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that absurd imagery reveals ignorance, using surrealist absurdities to critique shallow perception. **In simple terms:** Seeing absurdity shows foolishness. Key Takeaway Question absurd assumptions. Themes surrealism critical thinking perception Mood thought‑provoking critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - art critique - education - creative brainstorming - media analysis Key Concepts absurdity artistic critique Questions to Reflect On - How does absurd imagery challenge norms? - When does absurdity become counterproductive? A Different Perspective Surrealist extremes may alienate rather than enlighten. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Galloping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/galloping/) [Galloping horses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/galloping-horses-70007/) [Galloping Tomato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/galloping-tomato-1953997/) [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Idiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiot/) [Idiot Tomato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiot-tomato-1953995/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Tomato Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomato-child-1953998/) [Tomato Idiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomato-idiot-1953996/) [Tomatoes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomatoes/) ## Related quotes > [The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-galloping-on-a-tomato-is-an-idiot/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Couldn't a fire outrun a galloping horse?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/couldn-t-a-fire-outrun-a-galloping-horse/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [I am the camera's eye. I am the machine that shows you the world as I alone see it. Starting from today I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dziga-vertov/i-am-the-camera-s-eye-i-am-the-machine-that-shows-you-the-world-as-i/) [Dziga Vertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dziga-vertov/) > [There where the course is, Delight makes all of the one mind, The riders upon the galloping horses, The crowd that closes in behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/there-where-the-course-is-delight-makes-all-of-the-one-mind-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [My love runs by like a day in June, And he makes no friends of sorrows. He'll tread his galloping rigadoon In the pathway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/my-love-runs-by-like-a-day-in-june-and-he-makes-no-friends-of-sorrows/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [One knows so well the popular idea of health. 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Flashes of lightening echoed on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/that-afternoon-the-sky-was-scattered-with-black-clouds-galloping-in/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [I claim that in losing the spinning wheel we lost our left lung.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-claim-that-in-losing-the-spinning-wheel-we-lost-our-left-lung/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The Great Recession is not imaginary, and the effects loom large. There was an article in the NYT about the galloping death rate among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/the-great-recession-is-not-imaginary-and-the-effects-loom-large-there/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [The English country-gentleman galloping after a fox — the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-english-country-gentleman-galloping-after-a-fox-the-unspeakable/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Andre Breton > [Of all the arts in which the wise excel, nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/of-all-the-arts-in-which-the-wise-excel-nature-s-chief-masterpiece-is/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Under his (Marc Chagall, ed.) sole impulse metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/under-his-marc-chagall-ed-sole-impulse-metaphor-made-its-triumphal/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/psychic-automatism-in-its-pure-state-by-which-one-proposes-to-express/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-art-of-frida-kahlo-is-a-ribbon-around-a-bomb/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Let us not mince words: The marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beauitful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/let-us-not-mince-words-the-marvelous-is-always-beautiful-anything/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“There has never been any forbidden fruit. Only temptation is divine. To feel the need to vary the object of this temptation, to replace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/there-has-never-been-any-forbidden-fruit-only-temptation-is-divine-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“It was really a star, a star you were heading toward. You can't fail to reach it. Hearing you speak, I felt that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/it-was-really-a-star-a-star-you-were-heading-toward-you-can-t-fail-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“All my life my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” andre breton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/all-my-life-my-heart-has-yearned-for-a-thing-i-cannot-name-andre/) [andre breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Unless you have been inside a sanitarium you do not know that madmen are made there, just as criminals are made in our reformatories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/unless-you-have-been-inside-a-sanitarium-you-do-not-know-that-madmen/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/a-game-say-something-close-your-eyes-and-say-something-anything-a/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [...with the end of my breath, which is the beginning of yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/with-the-end-of-my-breath-which-is-the-beginning-of-yours/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Past and future monopolize the poet’s sensory and intellectual faculties, detached from the immediate spectacle. These two philtres become utterly clear the moment one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/past-and-future-monopolize-the-poet-s-sensory-and-intellectual/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [I am the soul in limbo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/i-am-the-soul-in-limbo/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) [Explore all 141 Andre Breton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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