--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It may be a good thing to copy reality…" description: "\"It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much, much better.\" — Giuseppe Verdi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg" --- # It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent… ![“It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much, much better.” quote by Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg) > “It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much, much better.” [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating new ideas surpasses merely imitating what exists. **In simple terms:** Inventing beats copying. Key Takeaway Prioritize original creation. Themes creativity innovation artistry Mood inspired determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - writing music - designing products - teaching - solving problems Key Concepts originality imagination cultural impact Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform existing concepts into something new? - What risks arise when abandoning tradition? A Different Perspective Original works still need foundations in existing knowledge. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-things/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [In fiction, you are not limited by real facts. You can manipulate reality; you can invent without being disloyal to the essence of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/in-fiction-you-are-not-limited-by-real-facts-you-can-manipulate/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [That we do not discover reality but rather invent it is quite shocking for many people. And the shocking part about it - according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watzlawick/that-we-do-not-discover-reality-but-rather-invent-it-is-quite/) [Paul Watzlawick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watzlawick/) > [It is our business not to supply reality but to invent allusions to the conceivable which cannot be presented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/it-is-our-business-not-to-supply-reality-but-to-invent-allusions-to/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [Play! Invent the world! Invent reality!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/play-invent-the-world-invent-reality/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Really, I protest-what is left for the satirical mind to invent when reality so surpasses it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jude-morgan/really-i-protest-what-is-left-for-the-satirical-mind-to-invent-when/) [Jude Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jude-morgan/) > [We live in a world ruled by fictions of every kind -- mass merchandising, advertising, politics conducted as a branch of advertising, the instant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-live-in-a-world-ruled-by-fictions-of-every-kind-mass-merchandising/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To copy the truth can be a good thing, but to invent the truth is better, much better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/to-copy-the-truth-can-be-a-good-thing-but-to-invent-the-truth-is/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Sometimes reality is better than dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-hooper/sometimes-reality-is-better-than-dreams/) [Kay Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-hooper/) > [Wake me up when reality becomes better than dreaming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayjee-grogan/wake-me-up-when-reality-becomes-better-than-dreaming/) [Ayjee Grogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayjee-grogan/) > [It is hard to sleep when you are inlove because the reality is much better than when you dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/innah-delos-angeles/it-is-hard-to-sleep-when-you-are-inlove-because-the-reality-is-much/) [Innah Delos Angeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/innah-delos-angeles/) > [If we restructure things to see that the hero's journey is a degree in astrophysics rather than a journey to star in a reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/if-we-restructure-things-to-see-that-the-hero-s-journey-is-a-degree/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [When your in love, you dont sleep. because reality is better than your dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-your-in-love-you-dont-sleep-because-reality-is-better-than-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think, to me, reality is better than being fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-cube/i-think-to-me-reality-is-better-than-being-fake/) [Ice Cube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-cube/) > [Sometimes I don't want to go to sleep because for once reality is better than my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-don-t-want-to-go-to-sleep-because-for-once-reality-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You know your in LOVE,because,for once.. You know reality is better than your DREAMS..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-your-in-love-because-for-once-you-know-reality-is-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Giuseppe Verdi > [The success of our operas rests most of the time in the hands of the conductor. This person is as necessary as a tenor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/the-success-of-our-operas-rests-most-of-the-time-in-the-hands-of-the/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [To copy the truth can be a good thing, but to invent the truth is better, much better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/to-copy-the-truth-can-be-a-good-thing-but-to-invent-the-truth-is/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Oh, you happy sons of the North who have been reared at the bosom of Bach, how I envy you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/oh-you-happy-sons-of-the-north-who-have-been-reared-at-the-bosom-of/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [You may have the universe if I may have Italy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/you-may-have-the-universe-if-i-may-have-italy/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [I order that my funeral ceremonies be extremely modest, and that they take place at dawn or at the evening Ave Maria, without song…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/i-order-that-my-funeral-ceremonies-be-extremely-modest-and-that-they/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [I adore art...when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/i-adore-art-when-i-am-alone-with-my-notes-my-heart-pounds-and-the/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Our mistake, you see, was to write interminable large operas, which had to fill an entire evening. And now along comes someone with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/our-mistake-you-see-was-to-write-interminable-large-operas-which-had/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Of all composers, past and present, I am the least learned. I mean that in all seriousness, and by learning I do not mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/of-all-composers-past-and-present-i-am-the-least-learned-i-mean-that/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Through care taken over trends, the desire to be novel and affectation knowledge, we repudiate our art, our instinct, our own way of doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/through-care-taken-over-trends-the-desire-to-be-novel-and-affectation/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [The artist must yield himself to his own inspiration... I should compose with utter confidence a subject that set my musical blood going, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/the-artist-must-yield-himself-to-his-own-inspiration-i-should-compose/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [It is better to invert reality than to copy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/it-is-better-to-invert-reality-than-to-copy-it/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Stupid criticism and still more stupid praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/stupid-criticism-and-still-more-stupid-praise/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [Oh blessed a thousand times the peasant who is born, eats and dies without anybody bothering about his affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/oh-blessed-a-thousand-times-the-peasant-who-is-born-eats-and-dies/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [A man like Verdi must write like Verdi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/a-man-like-verdi-must-write-like-verdi/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) > [I deny that either singers or conductors can "create" or work creatively - this, as I have always said, is a conception that leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/i-deny-that-either-singers-or-conductors-can-create-or-work/) [Giuseppe Verdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) [Explore all 18 Giuseppe Verdi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/) ## More Copies quotes > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My songs are like cheap Neil Young copies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-bachman/my-songs-are-like-cheap-neil-young-copies/) [Randy Bachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-bachman/) > [In that part of the book of my memory before the which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, Incipit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/in-that-part-of-the-book-of-my-memory-before-the-which-is-little-that/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [I remember being a kid and seeing the 'National Inquirer' at the grocery store checkout line. When somebody actually picked up a copy, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-jones/i-remember-being-a-kid-and-seeing-the-national-inquirer-at-the/) [Rashida Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-jones/) > [The idea is not to copy nature, but to give a feeling of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piet-oudolf/the-idea-is-not-to-copy-nature-but-to-give-a-feeling-of-nature/) Piet Oudolf > [“When copies are free, you need to sell things that cannot be copied. Well, what can’t be copied? Trust, for instance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/when-copies-are-free-you-need-to-sell-things-that-cannot-be-copied/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Mr Witwould: "Pray, madam, do you pin up your hair with all your letters? I find I must keep copies." Mrs Millamant: "Only with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-congreve/mr-witwould-pray-madam-do-you-pin-up-your-hair-with-all-your-letters/) [William Congreve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-congreve/) > [There have to be at least two copies of a photograph, otherwise it’s not a photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ruff/there-have-to-be-at-least-two-copies-of-a-photograph-otherwise-it-s/) [Thomas Ruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ruff/) > [In market research I did at Microsoft Corp. in the early 1990s, I estimated that the 'Wall Street Journal' took in about 75 cents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/in-market-research-i-did-at-microsoft-corp-in-the-early-1990s-i/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) > [It was only after I had been out of the art school that I actually copied a small Seurat, and I copied it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bridget-riley/it-was-only-after-i-had-been-out-of-the-art-school-that-i-actually/) [Bridget Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bridget-riley/) > [We call ourselves creators and we just copy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/we-call-ourselves-creators-and-we-just-copy/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) > [People have one of two extreme reactions to my book. They either throw it across the room, or they rush out and buy 10…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-hay/people-have-one-of-two-extreme-reactions-to-my-book-they-either-throw/) [Louise Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-hay/) > [A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [We are all born originals, why is it so many of us die copies?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/we-are-all-born-originals-why-is-it-so-many-of-us-die-copies/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) Browse all 971 Copies quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much, much better.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Giuseppe Verdi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-but-to-invent-reality-is-much/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Copies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-but-to-invent-reality-is-much/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d51/giuseppe-verdi-29529_copies_it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-b_2485045.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much, much better.” — Giuseppe Verdi", "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": "Giuseppe Verdi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-verdi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It may be a good thing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-but-to-invent-reality-is-much/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-verdi/it-may-be-a-good-thing-to-copy-reality-but-to-invent-reality-is-much/#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 } } ] } ```