--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think ordinary things are very…" description: "\"I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I try to imagine a world that is less ordinary.\" — Chris Van Allsburg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/chris-van-allsburg-8945_imagine_i-don-t-think-ordinary-things-are-very-i_1683209.jpg" --- # I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I… ![“I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I try to imagine a world that is less ordinary.” quote by Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/chris-van-allsburg-8945_imagine_i-don-t-think-ordinary-things-are-very-i_1683209.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/chris-van-allsburg-8945_imagine_i-don-t-think-ordinary-things-are-very-i_1683209.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/chris-van-allsburg-8945_imagine_i-don-t-think-ordinary-things-are-very-i_1683209.jpg) > “I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I try to imagine a world that is less ordinary.” [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagination thrives when ordinary is rejected in favor of the extraordinary. **In simple terms:** Seek the extraordinary. Key Takeaway Cultivate creative thinking. Themes creativity imagination novelty Mood inspired playful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - design - problem solving - teaching Key Concepts artistic vision innovation Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance realism with imagination? - What ordinary aspects can you transform? A Different Perspective Practical constraints may stifle imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Work Hard Coz, World Is Full Of Ordinary People And There's No Fun In Being Like Everyone Else. 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Guarded, cautious, careful in showing his feelings in expressing his ideas about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-stewart/roddenberry-had-created-quite-a-complex-and-at-times-mysterious/) [Patrick Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-stewart/) > [The interesting thing about Hain is that he's not a very interesting character. He's not fabulously clever. He's not a great policeman. He's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbie-coltraine/the-interesting-thing-about-hain-is-that-he-s-not-a-very-interesting/) [Robbie Coltraine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robbie-coltraine/) > [Dare to be different. The world is full of the ordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dare-to-be-different-the-world-is-full-of-the-ordinary/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The final result wouldn’t be decided by the presidents or within the mighty kingdoms or the great capitals of the world. 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The Ordinary person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/drop-the-idea-of-being-extraordinary-it-s-keeping-you-mediocre-to-be/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Anything can happen in this world, for an ordinary girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/anything-can-happen-in-this-world-for-an-ordinary-girl/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-extraordinary-thing-in-the-world-is-an-ordinary-man-and-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“RVM Thoughts for Today - " Dare to be different.The world is full of the Ordinary . ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/rvm-thoughts-for-today-dare-to-be-different-the-world-is-full-of-the/) RVM > [“Was this truly a door that I would someday open and walk through, as if walking out into the world were an ordinary thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-tova-bailey/was-this-truly-a-door-that-i-would-someday-open-and-walk-through-as/) [Elisabeth Tova Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-tova-bailey/) > [What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/what-i-see-everywhere-in-the-world-are-ordinary-people-willing-to/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [“When you start to find the world ordinary and no longer see magic in the beauties of nature, it means that the child in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-start-to-find-the-world-ordinary-and-no-longer-see-magic-in/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## More by Chris Van Allsburg > [My ideas are not meant to suggest dreams or reality, but a surreal quality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/my-ideas-are-not-meant-to-suggest-dreams-or-reality-but-a-surreal/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > ['The Polar Express' began with the idea of a train standing alone in the woods. I asked myself, 'What if a boy gets on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/the-polar-express-began-with-the-idea-of-a-train-standing-alone-in/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [“Book lovers love books!" her mother announced. "There's romance about the books- even having them seems to have a kind of excitement." from Mr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/book-lovers-love-books-her-mother-announced-there-s-romance-about-the/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can't see any reason to change the formula now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/following-my-muse-has-worked-out-pretty-well-so-far-i-can-t-see-any/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [People have asked me a lot, 'What comes first? The pictures or the story? The story or the picture?' 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But for me that's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/some-people-may-contend-that-there-is-no-image-more-charming-that-a/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [I write for what's left of the eight-year-old still rattling around inside my head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/i-write-for-what-s-left-of-the-eight-year-old-still-rattling-around/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [In the same way that a mundane object can have a personality somehow, I try to suggest that a mundane setting can have some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/in-the-same-way-that-a-mundane-object-can-have-a-personality-somehow/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [Even the most complicated stories start with a very simple premise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/even-the-most-complicated-stories-start-with-a-very-simple-premise/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [Peter Rabbit's not a rabbit. Peter Rabbit is a proxy for the child who reads the book, and they imagine themselves in the rabbit's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/peter-rabbit-s-not-a-rabbit-peter-rabbit-is-a-proxy-for-the-child-who/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [Brainstorming, for me, takes place in my bed at night between the time I turn out my lights and I finally fall asleep. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/brainstorming-for-me-takes-place-in-my-bed-at-night-between-the-time/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [The inclination to believe in the fantastic may strike some as a failure in logic, or gullibility, but it’s really a gift. A world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/the-inclination-to-believe-in-the-fantastic-may-strike-some-as-a/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [The whole idea of being mesmerized and not in control of your own actions is fascinating and a little spooky. I remember hearing about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/the-whole-idea-of-being-mesmerized-and-not-in-control-of-your-own/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) [Explore all 76 Chris Van Allsburg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) ## More Imagine quotes > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Many patients imagine that they have tried everything. True, they have used many remedies, but they have never had the cause of their infirmity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/many-patients-imagine-that-they-have-tried-everything-true-they-have/) [Daniel D. 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What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I can't imagine not working, really. I just think work's more fun than fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-quant/i-can-t-imagine-not-working-really-i-just-think-work-s-more-fun-than/) [Mary Quant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-quant/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [ I can't imagine that I would be asked that by the president-elect \[Donald Trump\], or then-president \[Barack Obama\]. But it's - I'm very clear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/i-can-t-imagine-that-i-would-be-asked-that-by-the-president-elect/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [We live in such a special time when literally anything we can think of is possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-willey/we-live-in-such-a-special-time-when-literally-anything-we-can-think/) [Daniel Willey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-willey/) > [Imagine what you'd do if it absolutely didn't matter what people thought of you. Got it? Good. Never go back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/imagine-what-you-d-do-if-it-absolutely-didn-t-matter-what-people/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [ Together he \[Girolamo Savonarola\] and his archenemy Lorenzo \[de' Medici\] would have been the stuff of gargoyles. 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