---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: 'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the…"
description: "\"'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift into the vortex if immensity. Howls the sublime, and softly sleeps the calm Ideal, in the whi..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg"
---

#  'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift…

![“'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift into the vortex if immensity. Howls the sublime, and softly sleeps the calm Ideal, in the whispering chambers of Imagination.'” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg)

> “'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift into the vortex if immensity. Howls the sublime, and softly sleeps the calm Ideal, in the whispering chambers of Imagination.'”

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

## 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 juxtaposes the dynamic, powerful forces of thought and reality, urging the mind to merge with vast creative imagination.

**In simple terms:** Mind and matter unite in imagination.

Key Takeaway

Embrace creative imagination.

Themes

creativity imagination mind-body exploration

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

literary philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- writing
- artistic brainstorming
- problem solving
- meditation
- dream analysis

Key Concepts

philosophy literary metaphor

Questions to Reflect On

- How can imagination shape reality?
- When does imagination become escapism?

A Different Perspective

May overlook practical constraints of reality.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Calm Ideal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm-ideal-4489543/) [Chamber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chamber/) [Chambers Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chambers-imagination-4489544/) [Howl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/howl/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Immensity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immensity/) [Lady Wig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lady-wig-4489540/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind and matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-and-matter/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sublime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime/) [Sublime Softly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime-softly-4489542/) [Vortex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vortex/) [Whispering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whispering/) [Wig Glide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wig-glide-4489541/) [Wigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wigs/)

## Related quotes

> [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Alchemy is about the generation of a psychic construct, a wholeness, a thing which has many properties, which is paradoxical, which is both mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/alchemy-is-about-the-generation-of-a-psychic-construct-a-wholeness-a/)

[Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/)

> [“The physicists called it an adjustment of quantum emphasis. But the effect was to change the role of the observer. Of you and me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/the-physicists-called-it-an-adjustment-of-quantum-emphasis-but-the/)

[Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/)

> [Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." "Don't cry because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/be-who-you-are-and-say-what-you-feel-because-those-who-mind-don-t-2/)

[Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/)

> [What you think you become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/what-you-think-you-become/)

[Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/)

> [Science enhances the moral value of life, because it furthers a love of truth and reverence-love of truth displaying itself in the constant endeavor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/science-enhances-the-moral-value-of-life-because-it-furthers-a-love/)

[Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/)

> [“Westerners view the physical world as the operative reality and the unseen, nonphysical world as an abstraction (comforting or not, depending upon our beliefs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hoover/westerners-view-the-physical-world-as-the-operative-reality-and-the/)

[Thomas Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hoover/)

> [Synchronicities, epiphanies, peak, and mystical experiences are all cases in which creativity breaks through the barriers of the self and allows awareness to flood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-david-peat/synchronicities-epiphanies-peak-and-mystical-experiences-are-all/)

[F. David Peat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-david-peat/)

> [The movement of a single atom from one known position to another known position changes an experience from nothing to overwhelming. This means that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-movement-of-a-single-atom-from-one-known-position-to-another/)

[Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/)

> [Every computer divides itself into its hardware and its software, the machine host to its algorithm, the human being to his mind. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/every-computer-divides-itself-into-its-hardware-and-its-software-the/)

[David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/)

> [ “\[T\]here is a universal flux that cannot be defined explicitly but which can be known only implicitly, as indicated by the explicitly definable forms… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/t-here-is-a-universal-flux-that-cannot-be-defined-explicitly-but/)

[David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/)

> [“Nothing ever begins. There is no first moment; no single word or place from which this or any other story springs. The threads can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/nothing-ever-begins-there-is-no-first-moment-no-single-word-or-place/)

[Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/)

> [“Human life is inherently dualistic. It consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities, including rivalries between subject and object, mind and matter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/human-life-is-inherently-dualistic-it-consists-of-or-is-explicable-as/)

[Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/)

> [“Historically, holism had been a break from the reductionist methods of science. Holism (...) is a way of viewing the universe as a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/historically-holism-had-been-a-break-from-the-reductionist-methods-of/)

[David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/)

> [What is essential to understand at this point is that until now there was no such thing as mind and matter, subject and object,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-is-essential-to-understand-at-this-point-is-that-until-now-there/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

## More by Charles Dickens

> [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

[Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

## More Calm quotes

> [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“After the storm, reigns the calm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simdi-onuora/after-the-storm-reigns-the-calm/)

[Simdi Onuora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simdi-onuora/)

> [So mightiest powers buy deepest calms are fed, And sleep, how oft, in things that gentlest be!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-procter/so-mightiest-powers-buy-deepest-calms-are-fed-and-sleep-how-oft-in/)

[Bryan Procter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-procter/)

> [KEEP CALM and HAVE A SUGAR CUBE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/keep-calm-and-have-a-sugar-cube/)

[Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/)

> [To practice Aikido fully you must calm the spirit and go back to the origin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/to-practice-aikido-fully-you-must-calm-the-spirit-and-go-back-to-the/)

[Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/)

> [You imagine that I look back on my life's work with calm satisfaction. But from nearby it looks quite different. There is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/you-imagine-that-i-look-back-on-my-life-s-work-with-calm-satisfaction/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [Don't get divorced after your first argument! I have a lot of friends that have one fight and that's it, they get divorced. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ripa/don-t-get-divorced-after-your-first-argument-i-have-a-lot-of-friends/)

[Kelly Ripa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ripa/)

> [The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages, only then will Israel be calm for the next 40 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ben-ari/the-goal-of-the-operation-is-to-send-gaza-back-to-the-middle-ages/)

[Michael Ben-Ari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ben-ari/)

> [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [When I was a child I truly loved: Unthinking love as calm and deep As the North Sea. But I have lived, And now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/when-i-was-a-child-i-truly-loved-unthinking-love-as-calm-and-deep-as/)

[John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/)

> [~Keep Calm and Swagger On~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/keep-calm-and-swagger-on/)

[Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/)

> [Ride your horse calm, forward and then make him straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-zettl/ride-your-horse-calm-forward-and-then-make-him-straight/)

[Walter Zettl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-zettl/)

> [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/)

[Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/)

> [Religious work is one of the best ways to keep from facing your reality if you are Christian, if you are using it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-miller/religious-work-is-one-of-the-best-ways-to-keep-from-facing-your/)

[Keith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-miller/)

[Browse all 3,074 Calm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift into the vortex if immensity. Howls the sublime, and softly sleeps the calm Ideal, in the whispering chambers of Imagination.'",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Charles Dickens"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig-glide-swift-into-the-vortex/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Calm"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig-glide-swift-into-the-vortex/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/charles-dickens-34_calm_mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig_1334509.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift into the vortex if immensity. Howls the sublime…” — Charles Dickens",
                "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": "Charles Dickens",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "'Mind and matter,' said the lady...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig-glide-swift-into-the-vortex/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mind-and-matter-said-the-lady-in-the-wig-glide-swift-into-the-vortex/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
