--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dreams are real. This is unreal. This…" description: "\"Dreams are real. This is unreal. This world is unreal. Everybody has it backwards. This is the dream. This is an insubstantial pageant. Nothing here la..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/frederick-lenz-8_backwards_dreams-are-real-this-is-unreal-this-worl_1903549.jpg" --- # Dreams are real. This is unreal. This world is unreal… ![“Dreams are real. This is unreal. This world is unreal. Everybody has it backwards. This is the dream. This is an insubstantial pageant. Nothing here lasts - that is how you know it's the dream.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/frederick-lenz-8_backwards_dreams-are-real-this-is-unreal-this-worl_1903549.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/frederick-lenz-8_backwards_dreams-are-real-this-is-unreal-this-worl_1903549.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/frederick-lenz-8_backwards_dreams-are-real-this-is-unreal-this-worl_1903549.jpg) > “Dreams are real. This is unreal. This world is unreal. Everybody has it backwards. This is the dream. This is an insubstantial pageant. Nothing here lasts - that is how you know it's the dream.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## 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 suggests that our perceived reality is fleeting and illusory, urging us to recognize life as a dreamlike state where nothing endures. **In simple terms:** Life feels like a dream; nothing lasts. Key Takeaway Question reality and let go of attachment. Themes illusion impermanence perception spirituality Mood contemplative enigmatic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - Meditation - creative work - relationship conflicts - grief processing Key Concepts nonduality emptiness mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing life as a dream change your priorities? - What aspects of reality feel most concrete to you? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex experiences and ignore material consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Backwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backwards/) [Backwards Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backwards-dream-2824458/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Dreams Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams-real/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Pageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pageant/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [This world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-world/) [Unreal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreal/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Unreal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-unreal-2824457/) ## Related quotes > [We human beings instinctively regard the seen world as the "real" world and the unseen world as the "unreal" world, but the Bible calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/we-human-beings-instinctively-regard-the-seen-world-as-the-real-world/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [“I want art that makes the world seem more unreal. I want fiction that can crumble the world and build it back into something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-michel/i-want-art-that-makes-the-world-seem-more-unreal-i-want-fiction-that/) [Lincoln Michel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lincoln-michel/) > [“Time spent in India has a extraordinary effect on one. It acts as a barrier that makes the rest of the world seem unreal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/time-spent-in-india-has-a-extraordinary-effect-on-one-it-acts-as-a/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [The pageant of life is divided into ying and yang. They're two circles. You can follow either circle and manage to develop enough speed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-pageant-of-life-is-divided-into-ying-and-yang-they-re-two-circles/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Psychic development is a necessary skill in leading a successful and happy life. Your intellectual processes and your senses don't give you enough information…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/psychic-development-is-a-necessary-skill-in-leading-a-successful-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [From the point of view of enlightenment, none of this has ever even been. All time and space, all the conditions that are apparent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/from-the-point-of-view-of-enlightenment-none-of-this-has-ever-even/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Most people put the cart before the horse, which is an interesting way to go through life. They approach everything directly. In Zen we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/most-people-put-the-cart-before-the-horse-which-is-an-interesting-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Our creative dreams are subject to grudge-holding when we decide that other people somehow have made their dreams real and we have not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-creative-dreams-are-subject-to-grudge-holding-when-we-decide-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When dreams can real already be, away goes sorrow, forth comes glee, yet always we will craft new dreams, our hearts on fire, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/when-dreams-can-real-already-be-away-goes-sorrow-forth-comes-glee-yet/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) > [“Dreams are just…dreams. They’re not real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-murphy/dreams-are-just-dreams-they-re-not-real/) [Monica Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-murphy/) > [Live in contact with dreams and you will get something of their charm: live in contact with facts and you will get something of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/live-in-contact-with-dreams-and-you-will-get-something-of-their-charm/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [If my dreams get real bizarre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owl-city/if-my-dreams-get-real-bizarre/) [Owl City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owl-city/) > [I have very weirdly realistic dreams where it could be real life, except it's not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-wolff/i-have-very-weirdly-realistic-dreams-where-it-could-be-real-life/) [Nat Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-wolff/) > [In my dreams you are mine but in real life you are just a dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-my-dreams-you-are-mine-but-in-real-life-you-are-just-a-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dreams are real as long as they last. Can we say more of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/dreams-are-real-as-long-as-they-last-can-we-say-more-of-life/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Backwards quotes > [I'm just always looking forwards. I spend very little time, looking backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-vaynerchuk/i-m-just-always-looking-forwards-i-spend-very-little-time-looking/) [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-vaynerchuk/) > [I wear T-shirts and backwards hats and buy my shoes at Payless!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaitlyn-bristowe/i-wear-t-shirts-and-backwards-hats-and-buy-my-shoes-at-payless/) [Kaitlyn Bristowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaitlyn-bristowe/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Why don't you just imagine it never happened..??](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/effy-stonem/why-don-t-you-just-imagine-it-never-happened/) [Effy Stonem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/effy-stonem/) > [“It would seem no matter how progressive we get there are always those few who are backwards in their ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solange-nicole/it-would-seem-no-matter-how-progressive-we-get-there-are-always-those/) [Solange nicole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solange-nicole/) > [In the spiritual life, he who does not advance goes backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/in-the-spiritual-life-he-who-does-not-advance-goes-backwards/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Now, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/now-success-is-not-the-result-of-making-money-making-money-is-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Can anyone be so foolish as to believe that there are men whose feet are higher than their heads, or places where things may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/can-anyone-be-so-foolish-as-to-believe-that-there-are-men-whose-feet/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [I took a little break - I was coming back to work and the last thing I was going to do was take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-took-a-little-break-i-was-coming-back-to-work-and-the-last-thing-i/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [Only a fool walks into the future backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-goodkind/only-a-fool-walks-into-the-future-backwards/) [Terry Goodkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-goodkind/) > [We have different expectations for different groups of people. We tend to modulate the degree with which we're forgiving or punitive depending on how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hayes/we-have-different-expectations-for-different-groups-of-people-we-tend/) [Chris Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hayes/) > [You know what, if you play 'She Looks So Perfect' backwards... you just listen to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-hemmings/you-know-what-if-you-play-she-looks-so-perfect-backwards-you-just/) [Luke Hemmings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-hemmings/) > [Nursing is a progressive art such that to stand still is to go backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/nursing-is-a-progressive-art-such-that-to-stand-still-is-to-go/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [“Just like backing out of the driveway… If the driveway was ten miles long, full of rocks and pits, with lethal radiation hovering above,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-thorman/just-like-backing-out-of-the-driveway-if-the-driveway-was-ten-miles/) [Daniel Thorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-thorman/) > [We're not competitor obsessed, we're customer obsessed. We start with the customer and we work backwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bezos/we-re-not-competitor-obsessed-we-re-customer-obsessed-we-start-with/) [Jeff Bezos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bezos/) [Browse all 837 Backwards quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backwards/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Dreams are real. This is unreal. This world is unreal. Everybody has it backwards. This is the dream. This is an insubstantial pageant. 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