--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The world is not run by thought, nor by…" description: "\"The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.\" — Elizabeth Drew" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png" --- # The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but… ![“The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.” quote by Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png) > “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.” [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal influence shapes reality more than abstract thought or imagination, directing collective actions and outcomes. **In simple terms:** Opinion drives reality more than ideas. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of public opinion. Themes society influence ideas reality Mood analytical thoughtful critical Type observational philosophical insightful When to use this quote - political campaigns - marketing strategies - public debates - media narratives Key Concepts social dynamics collective belief media impact Questions to Reflect On - How do you shape opinion constructively? - What role does imagination play in influencing opinion? A Different Perspective Ideas alone may not change outcomes without public support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“But life is glorious when it is happy; days are carefree when they are happy; the interplay of thought and imagination is far superior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/but-life-is-glorious-when-it-is-happy-days-are-carefree-when-they-are/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“As for me, I feel myself living and thinking in a room where everything is the creation and the language of lives profoundly different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/as-for-me-i-feel-myself-living-and-thinking-in-a-room-where/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Measure, time and number are nothing but modes of thought or rather of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/measure-time-and-number-are-nothing-but-modes-of-thought-or-rather-of/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both in the market place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-a-juvenile-notion-that-a-society-needs-a-lofty-purpose-and-a/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“I do not consider myself a religious person, because I don't adhere to a particular religion or faith or prescribed beliefs, as did my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-do-not-consider-myself-a-religious-person-because-i-don-t-adhere-to/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Multitasking, throughput, efficiency - these are excellent machine concepts, useful in the design of computer systems. But are they principles that nurture human thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ullman/multitasking-throughput-efficiency-these-are-excellent-machine/) [Ellen Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ullman/) > [No matter how mistaken Communist ideas may be, the experience and knowledge gained by trying them out have given a tremendous impetus to thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-mistaken-communist-ideas-may-be-the-experience-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is no storm in the depth of illuminated thought. Everything is 'above', for what is 'below' is nothing but imagination for those without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-s-34th-ode/there-is-no-storm-in-the-depth-of-illuminated-thought-everything-is/) Solomon's 34th Ode > [The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-logic-of-worldly-success-rests-on-a-fallacy-the-strange-error/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Every man must have the right fearlessly to think independently and express his opinion about what he knows, what he has personally thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mstislav-rostropovich/every-man-must-have-the-right-fearlessly-to-think-independently-and/) [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mstislav-rostropovich/) > [Silence has been destroyed, but also the idea that it's important to learn how another person thinks, to enter the mind of another person.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/silence-has-been-destroyed-but-also-the-idea-that-it-s-important-to/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [For the ordinary man, whose mind is a checkerboard of crisscrossing reflections, opinions, and prejudices, bare attention is virtually impossible; his life is thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-checkerboard-of-crisscrossing/) [Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/) > [A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-v-prochnow/a-great-many-people-mistake-opinions-for-thoughts/) [Herbert V. Prochnow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-v-prochnow/) > [Majority decisions tend to be made without engaging the systematic thought and critical thinking skills of the individuals in the group. Given the force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/majority-decisions-tend-to-be-made-without-engaging-the-systematic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access to imagination.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/i-have-a-recurring-fantasy-that-one-more-article-has-been-added-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) ## More by Elizabeth Drew > [“It is important to remember now, amid all this debris, how frightened we used to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/it-is-important-to-remember-now-amid-all-this-debris-how-frightened/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/too-often-travel-instead-of-broadening-the-mind-merely-lengthens-the/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [The torment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause, is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and "mangled mind"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-torment-of-human-frustration-whatever-its-immediate-cause-is-the/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [The pain of loss, moreover, however agonizing, however haunting in memory, quiets imperceptibly into acceptance as the currents of active living and of fresh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-pain-of-loss-moreover-however-agonizing-however-haunting-in/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/too-often-travel-instead-of-broadening-the-mind-merely-lengthens-the-2/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Language is like soil. However rich, it is subject to erosion, and its fertility is constantly threatened by uses that exhaust itsvitality. It needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/language-is-like-soil-however-rich-it-is-subject-to-erosion-and-its/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [ \[On newspapers:\] A first draft of history. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/on-newspapers-a-first-draft-of-history/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [How frail and ephemeral is the material substance of letters, which makes their very survival so hazardous. Print has a permanence of its own,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/how-frail-and-ephemeral-is-the-material-substance-of-letters-which/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [The Republicans’ plan is that if they can’t buy the 2012 election they will steal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-republicans-plan-is-that-if-they-can-t-buy-the-2012-election-they/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/we-read-poetry-because-the-poets-like-ourselves-have-been-haunted-by/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Propaganda has a bad name, but its root meaning is simply to disseminate through a medium, and all writing therefore is propaganda for something.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/propaganda-has-a-bad-name-but-its-root-meaning-is-simply-to/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-test-of-literature-is-i-suppose-whether-we-ourselves-live-more/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [The inspired scribbler always has the gift for gossip in our common usage he or she can always inspire the commonplace with an uncommon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-inspired-scribbler-always-has-the-gift-for-gossip-in-our-common/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Democracy, like any non-coercive relationship, rests on a shared understanding of limits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/democracy-like-any-non-coercive-relationship-rests-on-a-shared/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) > [Money buys access; access buys influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/money-buys-access-access-buys-influence/) [Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) [Explore all 20 Elizabeth Drew quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [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/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. 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/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Drew" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-imagination-but-by-opinion/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-imagination-but-by-opinion/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a56/elizabeth-drew-27945_imagination_the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-i_1889626.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion.” — Elizabeth Drew", "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": "Elizabeth Drew", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-drew/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The world is not run by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-imagination-but-by-opinion/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-drew/the-world-is-not-run-by-thought-nor-by-imagination-but-by-opinion/#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 } } ] } ```