---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All the things we achieve are things we…"
description: "\"All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined.\" — David Malouf"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png"
---

#  All the things we achieve are things we have first of all…

![“All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined.” quote by David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png)

> “All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined.”

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Imagination precedes achievement; what we first picture becomes the basis for what we later accomplish.

**In simple terms:** Ideas come before results.

Key Takeaway

Visualize goals before acting.

Themes

creativity achievement imagination

Mood

inspirational reflective

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- career planning
- artistic creation
- scientific research
- personal development

Key Concepts

psychology goal setting

Questions to Reflect On

- What visions have you not yet pursued?
- How can you turn imagined ideas into concrete steps?

A Different Perspective

Imagination alone does not guarantee success without effort.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/)

## Related quotes

> [You sort of look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if want to do things if you want to do some cool things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mardy-fish/you-sort-of-look-yourself-in-the-mirror-and-ask-yourself-if-want-to/)

[Mardy Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mardy-fish/)

> [I could sit there and be like, 'Wow, 22 years old and I've been able to do these things and achieve these things.' But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shelton/i-could-sit-there-and-be-like-wow-22-years-old-and-i-ve-been-able-to/)

[Ben Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shelton/)

> [“It seemed to him that the hand was not able to attain to the perfection of art in carrying out the things which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/it-seemed-to-him-that-the-hand-was-not-able-to-attain-to-the/)

[Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/)

> [“There are many things which cannot be imagined,” the Chinese say, “but there is nothing which may not happen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-g-chang/there-are-many-things-which-cannot-be-imagined-the-chinese-say-but/)

[Gordon G. Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-g-chang/)

> [Who are we, who is each one of us, if not a combinatoria of experiences, information, books we have read, things imagined?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/who-are-we-who-is-each-one-of-us-if-not-a-combinatoria-of-experiences/)

[Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/)

> [Auden, who asked two things of an imagined world-that it be somehow like ours and somehow unlike-would be Ben Marcus's ideal reader, yet even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-howard/auden-who-asked-two-things-of-an-imagined-world-that-it-be-somehow/)

[Richard Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-howard/)

> [“My history is the history of things imagined and not-happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-pink/my-history-is-the-history-of-things-imagined-and-not-happened/)

[Sam Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-pink/)

> [What do we have to achieve? Not your position, not your wealth, not all these outward things, but you have to achieve a loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/what-do-we-have-to-achieve-not-your-position-not-your-wealth-not-all/)

[Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/)

> [“If you want to achieve something, you must do two things: Be a Professional and Never mind what others say about you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saravanan/if-you-want-to-achieve-something-you-must-do-two-things-be-a/)

Saravanan

> [But there was a lot of pressure to achieve and to get things right, whether in school, on stage or with my peers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anoushka-shankar/but-there-was-a-lot-of-pressure-to-achieve-and-to-get-things-right/)

[Anoushka Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anoushka-shankar/)

> [There's no other way for me to achieve any of the things I've achieved individually other than to be insanely confident and crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-vanvleet/there-s-no-other-way-for-me-to-achieve-any-of-the-things-i-ve/)

[Fred VanVleet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-vanvleet/)

> [Stand often in the company of dreamers: they tickle your common sense &amp; believe you can achieve things which are impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-anne-radmacher/stand-often-in-the-company-of-dreamers-they-tickle-your-common-sense/)

[Mary Anne Radmacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-anne-radmacher/)

> [I'm not a visionary, but I've spent half my life drawing things Imagined, Remembered, and Observed, comparing the differences between them, and my study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blegvad/i-m-not-a-visionary-but-i-ve-spent-half-my-life-drawing-things/)

[Peter Blegvad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blegvad/)

> [I find that in the process of making a film you're constantly discovering things that you never even imagined would work at the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-jackson/i-find-that-in-the-process-of-making-a-film-you-re-constantly-2/)

[Peter Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-jackson/)

> [On stage I did things I never imagined possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-llewellyn/on-stage-i-did-things-i-never-imagined-possible/)

[Dylan Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-llewellyn/)

## More by David Malouf

> [“Brisbane is so sleepy, so slatternly, so sprawlingly unlovely… It is simply the most ordinary place in the world…It was so shabby and makeshift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/brisbane-is-so-sleepy-so-slatternly-so-sprawlingly-unlovely-it-is/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“The hundred possibilities a situation contains may be more significant than the occurrence of any of them, and metaphor truer in the long run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-hundred-possibilities-a-situation-contains-may-be-more/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [Words his soul danced to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/words-his-soul-danced-to/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [I write not to record what I think but to discover what I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-write-not-to-record-what-i-think-but-to-discover-what-i-think/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“So these things happen, deep in our lives. We do not speak of them. We hide them even from ourselves, but they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/so-these-things-happen-deep-in-our-lives-we-do-not-speak-of-them-we/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“However the story is told and elaborated, the raw shame of it will be with him now til his last breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/however-the-story-is-told-and-elaborated-the-raw-shame-of-it-will-be/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is astonishing. It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch-out-at-night-is-astonishing/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty, patriotism, the military virtues. And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions-as-duty-patriotism-the/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [Fiction, with its preference for what is small and might elsewhere seem irrelevant; its facility for smuggling us into another skin and allowing us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/fiction-with-its-preference-for-what-is-small-and-might-elsewhere/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“I have heard no word of my own language; I am rendered dumb.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-have-heard-no-word-of-my-own-language-i-am-rendered-dumb/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“She had given him up. That was the hard condition of his being and of all commerce between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/she-had-given-him-up-that-was-the-hard-condition-of-his-being-and-of/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [With all those prizes the most interesting thing is getting on to the shortlist, because that tells you who people see as your peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/with-all-those-prizes-the-most-interesting-thing-is-getting-on-to-the/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“So long as we are driven by the need to make up for our needs; by the restless sense that we are not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/so-long-as-we-are-driven-by-the-need-to-make-up-for-our-needs-by-the/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [We’re such contrary creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/we-re-such-contrary-creatures/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

> [“Here is the life you have tried to throw away. Here is your second chance. Here is the destiny you have tried to shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/here-is-the-life-you-have-tried-to-throw-away-here-is-your-second/)

[David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

[Explore all 44 David Malouf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/)

## More Achieve quotes

> [I always say there are two things to be successful. The first is decide exactly what you want - set your goals - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/i-always-say-there-are-two-things-to-be-successful-the-first-is/)

[Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/)

> [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [I love playing for my country, getting the support. Especially for the kids and everybody, showing my example of what I can achieve so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-sharapova/i-love-playing-for-my-country-getting-the-support-especially-for-the/)

[Maria Sharapova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-sharapova/)

> [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/)

[Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/)

> [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/)

[Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/)

> [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/)

[Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/)

> [I'm a film guy. I love it. When I read the screenplay, I knew that there would be no HD camera that could achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deon-taylor/i-m-a-film-guy-i-love-it-when-i-read-the-screenplay-i-knew-that-there/)

Deon Taylor

> [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/)

Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera

> [I'm optimistic Hong Kong will achieve universal suffrage - no matter the attitude of Beijing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-wong/i-m-optimistic-hong-kong-will-achieve-universal-suffrage-no-matter/)

[Joshua Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-wong/)

> [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [Governments follow their people. A great deal has to do with the vision of the leadership of governments. They have a vision, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-khurshid/governments-follow-their-people-a-great-deal-has-to-do-with-the/)

[Salman Khurshid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-khurshid/)

> [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power &amp; movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/)

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

> [If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-rockefeller/if-your-only-goal-is-to-become-rich-you-will-never-achieve-it/)

[John D. Rockefeller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-rockefeller/)

> [To achieve something you've never achieved before, you must become someone you've never been before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shubham-joshi/to-achieve-something-you-ve-never-achieved-before-you-must-become/)

[Shubham Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shubham-joshi/)

> [I've identified as bisexual since I was a teenager, and if we want to achieve equality for all in our policies, we need more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-hill/i-ve-identified-as-bisexual-since-i-was-a-teenager-and-if-we-want-to/)

[Katie Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-hill/)

Browse all 6,390 Achieve quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "David Malouf"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we-have-first-of-all-imagined/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Achieve"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we-have-first-of-all-imagined/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/david-malouf-15192_achieve_all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we_655717.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined.” — David Malouf",
                "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": "David Malouf",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "All the things we achieve are...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we-have-first-of-all-imagined/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we-have-first-of-all-imagined/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
