--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By some magic reversal, everything…" description: "\"“By some magic reversal, everything spectacularly useless filled the drawer intended for practical tools. What could you do with a single piece of jigs..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/ian-mcewan-494_drawer_by-some-magic-reversal-everything-specta_1144135.png" --- # By some magic reversal, everything spectacularly useless… ![“By some magic reversal, everything spectacularly useless filled the drawer intended for practical tools. What could you do with a single piece of jigsaw? But, on the other hand, did you dare throw it away?” quote by Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/ian-mcewan-494_drawer_by-some-magic-reversal-everything-specta_1144135.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/ian-mcewan-494_drawer_by-some-magic-reversal-everything-specta_1144135.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/ian-mcewan-494_drawer_by-some-magic-reversal-everything-specta_1144135.png) > ““By some magic reversal, everything spectacularly useless filled the drawer intended for practical tools. What could you do with a single piece of jigsaw? But, on the other hand, did you dare throw it away?”” [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Useless objects can become valuable when reimagined; questioning utility reveals hidden potential. **In simple terms:** Question usefulness of items. Key Takeaway Reevaluate what you discard. Themes utility creativity revaluation Mood curious inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - home organization - design - problem solving Key Concepts resourcefulness innovation Questions to Reflect On - What could you repurpose today? - How does questioning utility spark creativity? A Different Perspective Not all items are repurposable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drawer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawer/) [Drawer Intended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawer-intended-3203355/) [Filled Drawer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filled-drawer-3203356/) [Jigsaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jigsaw/) [Jigsaw Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jigsaw-hand-3203357/) ## Related quotes > [I'm still stupid. I still do what I'm not supposed to do. Are you serious? I'm Jake 'The Snake,' man. I never claimed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-roberts/i-m-still-stupid-i-still-do-what-i-m-not-supposed-to-do-are-you/) [Jake Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-roberts/) > [If I could be more vague I'd write more about people in my life, but I hate hurting feelings or making people feel uncomfortable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-rose/if-i-could-be-more-vague-i-d-write-more-about-people-in-my-life-but-i/) [Caitlin Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-rose/) > [“Terrific! Have you done Step Three?" He waggled his brows as he opened up the top left drawer of my dresser. "No. Hey! Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-bardsley/terrific-have-you-done-step-three-he-waggled-his-brows-as-he-opened/) [Michele Bardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-bardsley/) > [When it comes to underwear, there's nothing worse than a visible panty line. Sometimes it seems like nobody knows that seamless underwear exists. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/when-it-comes-to-underwear-there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-visible-panty/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [The very act of drawing an object, however badly, swiftly takes the drawer from a woolly sense of what the object looks like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-very-act-of-drawing-an-object-however-badly-swiftly-takes-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The Pulitzer isn't a physical object. You can't hold it in your hand. You get some money ($7,500 in my day), and you get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/the-pulitzer-isn-t-a-physical-object-you-can-t-hold-it-in-your-hand/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [I think a lot of playwrights have a script in their bottom drawer that hopefully no one will ever see about a bunch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wade/i-think-a-lot-of-playwrights-have-a-script-in-their-bottom-drawer/) [Laura Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wade/) > [“This wasn’t the time or place for it, so I hid it away in a little drawer in the back of my mind, marked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrington/this-wasn-t-the-time-or-place-for-it-so-i-hid-it-away-in-a-little/) [Kim Harrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrington/) > [My mother was an artist, and I was fairly good at art as a child. I was always the best drawer in class, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-babbitt/my-mother-was-an-artist-and-i-was-fairly-good-at-art-as-a-child-i-was/) [Natalie Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-babbitt/) > [In the house, I have a drawer that's just filled with Carmex. It's just my thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-la-anthony/in-the-house-i-have-a-drawer-that-s-just-filled-with-carmex-it-s-just/) [La La Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-la-anthony/) > [I do triage on everything that comes through the door, and if it's not something we need (now, for real-not maybe someday) or something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-herman/i-do-triage-on-everything-that-comes-through-the-door-and-if-it-s-not/) [Michelle Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-herman/) > [Talking raw papers and long leathers. Nigga, my drawer filled with couture textures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/talking-raw-papers-and-long-leathers-nigga-my-drawer-filled-with/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [ I sometimes try a variance of the drawer trick - \[I write it\] and then come back to it and see if it blows. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-morrison/i-sometimes-try-a-variance-of-the-drawer-trick-i-write-it-and-then/) [Travis Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-morrison/) > [“I've tucked those negative thoughts in a drawer, and for the most part, though I know the drawer still exists, it never gets opened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-martin-beckner/i-ve-tucked-those-negative-thoughts-in-a-drawer-and-for-the-most-part/) [K. Martin Beckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-martin-beckner/) > [Toss your dashed hopes not into a trash bin but into a drawer where you are likely to rummage some bright morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/toss-your-dashed-hopes-not-into-a-trash-bin-but-into-a-drawer-where/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## More by Ian McEwan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian McEwan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More Drawer quotes > [I'm still stupid. I still do what I'm not supposed to do. Are you serious? I'm Jake 'The Snake,' man. I never claimed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-roberts/i-m-still-stupid-i-still-do-what-i-m-not-supposed-to-do-are-you/) [Jake Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-roberts/) > [“I've tucked those negative thoughts in a drawer, and for the most part, though I know the drawer still exists, it never gets opened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-martin-beckner/i-ve-tucked-those-negative-thoughts-in-a-drawer-and-for-the-most-part/) [K. Martin Beckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-martin-beckner/) > [ I sometimes try a variance of the drawer trick - \[I write it\] and then come back to it and see if it blows. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-morrison/i-sometimes-try-a-variance-of-the-drawer-trick-i-write-it-and-then/) [Travis Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-morrison/) > [Talking raw papers and long leathers. Nigga, my drawer filled with couture textures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/talking-raw-papers-and-long-leathers-nigga-my-drawer-filled-with/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [I do triage on everything that comes through the door, and if it's not something we need (now, for real-not maybe someday) or something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-herman/i-do-triage-on-everything-that-comes-through-the-door-and-if-it-s-not/) [Michelle Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-herman/) > [In the house, I have a drawer that's just filled with Carmex. It's just my thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-la-anthony/in-the-house-i-have-a-drawer-that-s-just-filled-with-carmex-it-s-just/) [La La Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-la-anthony/) > [My mother was an artist, and I was fairly good at art as a child. I was always the best drawer in class, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-babbitt/my-mother-was-an-artist-and-i-was-fairly-good-at-art-as-a-child-i-was/) [Natalie Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-babbitt/) > [“This wasn’t the time or place for it, so I hid it away in a little drawer in the back of my mind, marked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrington/this-wasn-t-the-time-or-place-for-it-so-i-hid-it-away-in-a-little/) [Kim Harrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrington/) > [I think a lot of playwrights have a script in their bottom drawer that hopefully no one will ever see about a bunch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wade/i-think-a-lot-of-playwrights-have-a-script-in-their-bottom-drawer/) [Laura Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wade/) > [The Pulitzer isn't a physical object. You can't hold it in your hand. You get some money ($7,500 in my day), and you get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/the-pulitzer-isn-t-a-physical-object-you-can-t-hold-it-in-your-hand/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [The very act of drawing an object, however badly, swiftly takes the drawer from a woolly sense of what the object looks like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-very-act-of-drawing-an-object-however-badly-swiftly-takes-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [When it comes to underwear, there's nothing worse than a visible panty line. Sometimes it seems like nobody knows that seamless underwear exists. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/when-it-comes-to-underwear-there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-visible-panty/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [“Terrific! Have you done Step Three?" He waggled his brows as he opened up the top left drawer of my dresser. "No. Hey! Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-bardsley/terrific-have-you-done-step-three-he-waggled-his-brows-as-he-opened/) [Michele Bardsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-bardsley/) > [If I could be more vague I'd write more about people in my life, but I hate hurting feelings or making people feel uncomfortable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-rose/if-i-could-be-more-vague-i-d-write-more-about-people-in-my-life-but-i/) [Caitlin Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-rose/) > [Toss your dashed hopes not into a trash bin but into a drawer where you are likely to rummage some bright morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/toss-your-dashed-hopes-not-into-a-trash-bin-but-into-a-drawer-where/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) [Browse all 58 Drawer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By some magic reversal, everything spectacularly useless filled the drawer intended for practical tools. 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