--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't ever let anyone tell you that the…" description: "\"“Don't ever let anyone tell you that the imaginary is equivalent to the real: your skin, your vast breathing skin, will insist otherwise.”\" — Claire Me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png" --- # Don't ever let anyone tell you that the imaginary is… ![“Don't ever let anyone tell you that the imaginary is equivalent to the real: your skin, your vast breathing skin, will insist otherwise.” quote by Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png) > ““Don't ever let anyone tell you that the imaginary is equivalent to the real: your skin, your vast breathing skin, will insist otherwise.”” [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) ## 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 warns against equating imagination with reality, emphasizing that bodily experience and instinct will reveal the truth. **In simple terms:** Imagination isn’t the same as reality. Key Takeaway Trust your body’s feedback over fantasies. Themes imagination reality embodiment truth skepticism Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative work - personal decision‑making - health choices Key Concepts philosophy psychology perception Questions to Reflect On - When should imagination guide you? - How do you discern bodily signals? A Different Perspective Imaginary ideas can sometimes be useful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breathing Skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing-skin-4506069/) [Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginary/) [Insist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insist/) [Skin Insist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skin-insist-4506068/) [Tell Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-imaginary-1599796/) ## Related quotes > [“Monsters’ can help us by giving a tangible form to our secret fears. 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Never imitate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/insist-on-yourself-never-imitate/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [I do not believe in eating fish hot. 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It’s the most precious gift I can give,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/who-i-am-in-my-head-very-few-people-really-get-to-see-that-almost/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [“My everyday Appleton life, my phones calls to my father, my occasional beers with friends, my Saturday-morning jobs around the reservoir - what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/my-everyday-appleton-life-my-phones-calls-to-my-father-my-occasional/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) [Explore all 249 Claire Messud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) ## More Imaginary quotes > [I realized I couldn't be a journalist because I like to take a side, to have an opinion and a point a view; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/i-realized-i-couldn-t-be-a-journalist-because-i-like-to-take-a-side/) [Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/) > [“this route is only one of several imaginary paths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/this-route-is-only-one-of-several-imaginary-paths/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [The hardest thing about being a guy is that women don't accept that you really are just a simple, pathetic, labrador retriever-like creature. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-hardest-thing-about-being-a-guy-is-that-women-don-t-accept-that/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [I was a loner as a child. I had an imaginary friend - I didn't bother with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-was-a-loner-as-a-child-i-had-an-imaginary-friend-i-didn-t-bother/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [What the nostalgic past and the imaginary future seem to share in common is a form of idealism, perhaps a dream of wholeness. Our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/what-the-nostalgic-past-and-the-imaginary-future-seem-to-share-in/) [Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/) > [The more science I studied, the more I saw that physics becomes metaphysics and numbers become imaginary numbers. The farther you go into science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/the-more-science-i-studied-the-more-i-saw-that-physics-becomes/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [Dont let the imaginary person in your head keep you from loving the real one right in front of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dev/dont-let-the-imaginary-person-in-your-head-keep-you-from-loving-the/) [Dev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dev/) > [The point I wish plainly to bring before you on this occasion is the individuality of each human soul--our Protestant idea, the right of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-point-i-wish-plainly-to-bring-before-you-on-this-occasion-is-the/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Imaginary evils are incurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/imaginary-evils-are-incurable/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) > [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. 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It has real and imaginary components.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-potter/life-is-complex-it-has-real-and-imaginary-components/) [Tom Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-potter/) > [Why all these signs around us that make me doubt language and submerge me in meanings, drowning reality instead of extracting it from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/why-all-these-signs-around-us-that-make-me-doubt-language-and/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) > [“No knowledge comes from the outside world or an imaginary supernatural paradise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/no-knowledge-comes-from-the-outside-world-or-an-imaginary/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) [Browse all 902 Imaginary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Don't ever let anyone tell you that the imaginary is equivalent to the real: your skin, your vast breathing skin, will insist otherwise.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Claire Messud" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the-imaginary-is-equivalent-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imaginary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the-imaginary-is-equivalent-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98f/claire-messud-1372_imaginary_don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the_1337204.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don't ever let anyone tell you that the imaginary is equivalent to the real: your skin, your vast breathing…” — Claire Messud", "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": "Claire Messud", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Don't ever let anyone tell you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the-imaginary-is-equivalent-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/don-t-ever-let-anyone-tell-you-that-the-imaginary-is-equivalent-to/#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 } } ] } ```