--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The man who cannot visualize a horse…" description: "\"The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.\" — Andre Breton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg" --- # The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato… ![“The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.” quote by Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg) > “The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.” [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. The quote mocks those lacking imaginative ability, equating it to foolishness. **In simple terms:** Lack of imagination is foolish. Key Takeaway Cultivate vivid imagination. Themes creativity imagination absurdity Mood playful critical Type philosophical humorous When to use this quote - art criticism - creative writing - brainstorming - education Key Concepts Surrealism mental imagery Questions to Reflect On - How can you train your mind to visualize the impossible? - What value does absurd imagery bring? A Different Perspective Imagination can be limited by rigid thinking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Idiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiot/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [I maintain that anyone who still refuses to see, for instance, a horse galloping on a tomato, must be an idiot. A tomato is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/i-maintain-that-anyone-who-still-refuses-to-see-for-instance-a-horse/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“There is a Zen story about a man and a horse.7 The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the rider is urgently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-a-zen-story-about-a-man-and-a-horse-7-the-horse-is-galloping/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God must be a smell, one of those delicious dreamy aromas that float into the soul on the warm hopeful days of spring. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-prechtel/god-must-be-a-smell-one-of-those-delicious-dreamy-aromas-that-float/) [Martin Prechtel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-prechtel/) > [The number of people that can reason well is much smaller than those that can reason badly. If reasoning were like hauling rocks, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/the-number-of-people-that-can-reason-well-is-much-smaller-than-those/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [I completely fell in love with riding horses. I really didn't want to wear a helmet when I would go off with the trainer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-cooper/i-completely-fell-in-love-with-riding-horses-i-really-didn-t-want-to/) [Bradley Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-cooper/) > [In the dark room a cloud of yellow dust flew from beneath the tool like a scatter of sparks from under the hooves of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/in-the-dark-room-a-cloud-of-yellow-dust-flew-from-beneath-the-tool/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“because, by my faith, Rocinante was galloping like a Gypsy’s donkey with quicksilver in its ear.”3”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/because-by-my-faith-rocinante-was-galloping-like-a-gypsy-s-donkey/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That afternoon the sky was scattered with black clouds galloping in from the sea and clustering over the city. 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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [You & I, Love, together we ratify the silence, while the sea destroys its perpetual statues, collapses its towers of wild speed and whiteness:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-i-love-together-we-ratify-the-silence-while-the-sea-destroys-its/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [One knows so well the popular idea of health. The English country gentleman galloping after a foxthe unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-knows-so-well-the-popular-idea-of-health-the-english-country/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) ## 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Breton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-galloping-on-a-tomato-is-an-idiot/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-galloping-on-a-tomato-is-an-idiot/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8e/andr-breton-2478_art_the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-gal_2209746.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.” — Andre Breton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andre Breton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The man who cannot visualize a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-galloping-on-a-tomato-is-an-idiot/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-man-who-cannot-visualize-a-horse-galloping-on-a-tomato-is-an-idiot/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```