--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the past we have always assumed that…" description: "\"In the past we have always assumed that the external world around us has represented reality, however confusing or uncertain, and that the inner world ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/j-g-ballard-2711_ambition_in-the-past-we-have-always-assumed-that_740549.jpg" --- # In the past we have always assumed that the external world… ![“In the past we have always assumed that the external world around us has represented reality, however confusing or uncertain, and that the inner world of our minds, its dreams, hopes, ambitions, represented the realm of fantasy, and the imagination. These roles, it seems to me, have been reversed…” quote by J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/j-g-ballard-2711_ambition_in-the-past-we-have-always-assumed-that_740549.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/j-g-ballard-2711_ambition_in-the-past-we-have-always-assumed-that_740549.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/j-g-ballard-2711_ambition_in-the-past-we-have-always-assumed-that_740549.jpg) > “In the past we have always assumed that the external world around us has represented reality, however confusing or uncertain, and that the inner world of our minds, its dreams, hopes, ambitions, represented the realm of fantasy, and the imagination. These roles, it seems to me, have been reversed. The most prudent and effective method of dealing with the world around us is to assume that it is a complete fiction - conversely, the one small node of reality left to us is inside of our own heads.” [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We should treat external reality as fiction and see inner consciousness as the only true reality. **In simple terms:** Treat the world like a story; mind is real. Key Takeaway Question reality’s assumptions. Themes reality perception mind fiction philosophy Mood skeptical introspective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - writing speculative fiction - philosophical debate - mindfulness practice - critical thinking workshops Key Concepts Epistemology constructivism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you ever doubt the external world? - How does seeing life as fiction affect your choices? A Different Perspective Denial of external facts can be dangerous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Inner world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-world/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Realms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realms/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“There's always room for a unicorn in my life. (i.e. fantasy and imagination)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-ammazzini/there-s-always-room-for-a-unicorn-in-my-life-i-e-fantasy-and/) Renata Ammazzini > [I think it reflects well on the state of animation that people are knowledgeable about it and love the fantasy and imagination that goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-plympton/i-think-it-reflects-well-on-the-state-of-animation-that-people-are/) [Bill Plympton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-plympton/) > [Do not confuse fantasy with imagination; the former consumes itself in daydreaming, the latter stimulates creativity in the arts and in the sciences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fausto-cercignani/do-not-confuse-fantasy-with-imagination-the-former-consumes-itself-in/) [Fausto Cercignani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fausto-cercignani/) > [Most of our difficulties, our hopes, and our worries are empty fantasies. Nothing has ever existed except this moment. That's all there is. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-of-our-difficulties-our-hopes-and-our-worries-are-empty/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Heaven knows, I've exposed myself in my novels through the use of fantasy and imagination... now my new book is about what really happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-krantz/heaven-knows-i-ve-exposed-myself-in-my-novels-through-the-use-of/) [Judith Krantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-krantz/) > [As an actor, you deal in fantasy, imagination, and concentration. Those are your three weapons. Those are your bullets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/as-an-actor-you-deal-in-fantasy-imagination-and-concentration-those/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [I define Inner Space as an imaginary realm in which on the one hand the outer world of reality, and on the other the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-define-inner-space-as-an-imaginary-realm-in-which-on-the-one-hand/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [“If the vibrant and frolicking merry-go-round of our daily living has been ousted by an eerie void of an intractable vacuum, only inspiriting memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/if-the-vibrant-and-frolicking-merry-go-round-of-our-daily-living-has/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“And I don't want to live like a fleeting shadow, a consumptive, no. I want to live genuinely, with the true warmth and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/and-i-don-t-want-to-live-like-a-fleeting-shadow-a-consumptive-no-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The modern artist... is working and expressing an inner world - in other words - expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/the-modern-artist-is-working-and-expressing-an-inner-world-in-other/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [When you dream you are creating the future, your inner world. By the time you finish this book, you will have a deeper understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/when-you-dream-you-are-creating-the-future-your-inner-world-by-the/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [Feelings and thoughts do not define who we are; they are just part of the weather of our inner world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-daishin-buksbazen/feelings-and-thoughts-do-not-define-who-we-are-they-are-just-part-of/) [John Daishin Buksbazen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-daishin-buksbazen/) > [Half of humanity has been accepting the inner world but denying the outer world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/half-of-humanity-has-been-accepting-the-inner-world-but-denying-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [All ballet, all reading, all music. That was my world, my inner world,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-makarova/all-ballet-all-reading-all-music-that-was-my-world-my-inner-world/) [Natalia Makarova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-makarova/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More by J. G. Ballard > [Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/science-and-technology-multiply-around-us-to-an-increasing-extent/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [There are some people, who place enormous value on their home and feel that it defines them, that a stain on the carpet is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/there-are-some-people-who-place-enormous-value-on-their-home-and-feel/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [A reality that is electronic... Once everybody's got a computer terminal in their home, to satisfy all their needs, all the domestic needs, there'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/a-reality-that-is-electronic-once-everybody-s-got-a-computer-terminal/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [If you're against globalisation, it doesn't achieve much by sort of bombing the head offices of Shell or Nestle. You unsettle people much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/if-you-re-against-globalisation-it-doesn-t-achieve-much-by-sort-of/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [The suburbs dream of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/the-suburbs-dream-of-violence/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I made a very slatternly mother, notably unkeen on housework, unaware that homes need to be cleaned now and then, and too often to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-made-a-very-slatternly-mother-notably-unkeen-on-housework-unaware/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I was in Shanghai when the Japanese invaded China. I was there in Shanghai when, the morning after Pearl Harbor, they seized Shanghai.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-was-in-shanghai-when-the-japanese-invaded-china-i-was-there-in/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will helpthe inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/electronic-aids-particularly-domestic-computers-will-helpthe-inner/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Perhaps the future belongs to magic, and it's we women who control magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/perhaps-the-future-belongs-to-magic-and-it-s-we-women-who-control/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Any fool can write a novel but it takes real genius to sell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/any-fool-can-write-a-novel-but-it-takes-real-genius-to-sell-it/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I work for three or four hours a day, in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I go out for a walk and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-work-for-three-or-four-hours-a-day-in-the-late-morning-and-early/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Even one's own home is a kind of anthology of advertisers, manufacturers, motifs and presentation techniques. There's nothing 'natural' about one's home these days.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/even-one-s-own-home-is-a-kind-of-anthology-of-advertisers/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I was born in the city's general hospital on November 15, 1930, and we lived at 31 Amherst Avenue in the western suburbs. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-was-born-in-the-city-s-general-hospital-on-november-15-1930-and-we/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I suspect that many of the great cultural shifts that prepare the way for political change are largely aesthetic. A Buick radiator grille is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/i-suspect-that-many-of-the-great-cultural-shifts-that-prepare-the-way/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [Orwell's '1984' convinced me, rightly or wrongly, that Marxism was only a quantum leap away from tyranny. By contrast, Huxley's 'Brave New World' suggested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/orwell-s-1984-convinced-me-rightly-or-wrongly-that-marxism-was-only-a/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) [Explore all 151 J. G. Ballard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the past we have always assumed that the external world around us has represented reality, however confusing or uncertain, and that the inner world of our minds, its dreams, hopes, ambitions, represented the realm of fantasy, and the imagination. 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