--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If all you were left believing was what…" description: "\"If all you were left believing was what you were seeing, it'd be nothing but desperate. To have hope, you're going to have to imagine that there's some..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/jakob-dylan-11605_behind_if-all-you-were-left-believing-was-what_3129226.jpg" --- # If all you were left believing was what you were seeing… ![“If all you were left believing was what you were seeing, it'd be nothing but desperate. To have hope, you're going to have to imagine that there's something behind the curtain.” quote by Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/jakob-dylan-11605_behind_if-all-you-were-left-believing-was-what_3129226.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/jakob-dylan-11605_behind_if-all-you-were-left-believing-was-what_3129226.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/jakob-dylan-11605_behind_if-all-you-were-left-believing-was-what_3129226.jpg) > “If all you were left believing was what you were seeing, it'd be nothing but desperate. To have hope, you're going to have to imagine that there's something behind the curtain.” [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hope requires imagination beyond immediate perception; without it, reality feels empty and desperate. **In simple terms:** Hope needs imagination beyond what you see. Key Takeaway Imagine beyond the visible to find hope. Themes hope imagination perception Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal crisis - creative work - spiritual seeking - overcoming nihilism Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What unseen possibilities could you envision? - How does imagination sustain hope? A Different Perspective Hope can be fragile when grounded only in observable facts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) ## Related quotes > [SEEING YOU SO DESPERATE HURTS ME SO MUCH.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa/seeing-you-so-desperate-hurts-me-so-much/) [ALYSSA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa/) > [When you understand how the mind-brain functions together, you know that faith, which is believing before seeing, is the natural process of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anthony/when-you-understand-how-the-mind-brain-functions-together-you-know/) [Robert Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anthony/) > [This is the real thing of disillusion that no one, not any one really is believing, seeing, understanding, thinking anything as you are thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/this-is-the-real-thing-of-disillusion-that-no-one-not-any-one-really/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“Believing is seeing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cb-smith/believing-is-seeing/) [CB Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cb-smith/) > [“Nothing is more rewarding than believing in who you are and others seeing in you what you value most about yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/nothing-is-more-rewarding-than-believing-in-who-you-are-and-others/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [Believing is seeing. It's much more effective than the old notion that seeing is believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-e-deal/believing-is-seeing-it-s-much-more-effective-than-the-old-notion-that/) [Terrence E. Deal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-e-deal/) > [“BELIEVING IS SEEING what you want! Seeing, might be believing, what you don't want! Your inside eyes are your special sight, to create your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-disano-davenport/believing-is-seeing-what-you-want-seeing-might-be-believing-what-you/) [Chris DiSano Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-disano-davenport/) > [“How stark everything became, at the end, all the wishes for one's children distilled by the world's swift cruelty into the desperate hope that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/how-stark-everything-became-at-the-end-all-the-wishes-for-one-s/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) > [“I think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry now that one really wants, hopelessly, to save the world. One is trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-think-there-s-a-kind-of-desperate-hope-built-into-poetry-now-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The desperate hope that the patient will be healed... That's the last treatment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/choi-woo-shik/the-desperate-hope-that-the-patient-will-be-healed-that-s-the-last/) [Choi Woo-shik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/choi-woo-shik/) > [Your woe hath been my anguish; yea, I quail And perish in your perishing unblest. And I have searched the highths and depths, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thomson/your-woe-hath-been-my-anguish-yea-i-quail-and-perish-in-your/) [James Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thomson/) > [I spent a lot of time behind the Iron Curtain, and their cars were abysmal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-spent-a-lot-of-time-behind-the-iron-curtain-and-their-cars-were/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [If you peek behind the curtain at any type of company, you'll see that things are far less organized than you'd expect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-blumenthal/if-you-peek-behind-the-curtain-at-any-type-of-company-you-ll-see-that/) [Neil Blumenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-blumenthal/) > [Seeing is not believing - it is only seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/seeing-is-not-believing-it-is-only-seeing/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Another source of fallacy is the vicious circle of illusions which consists on the one hand of believing what we see, and on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/another-source-of-fallacy-is-the-vicious-circle-of-illusions-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jakob Dylan > [My father said it himself in an interview many years ago: 'Husband and wife failed, but mother and father didn't.' I've got a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/my-father-said-it-himself-in-an-interview-many-years-ago-husband-and/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [Those things interest me a lot in songwriting - the human nature of how people think, and the muck that we wind up in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/those-things-interest-me-a-lot-in-songwriting-the-human-nature-of-how/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [I don't feel like I chose to do music as much as I made a decision to not stop doing music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/i-don-t-feel-like-i-chose-to-do-music-as-much-as-i-made-a-decision-to/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [Every song you write you think is the last one you're going to manage. You put everything you've got into the song, and you've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/every-song-you-write-you-think-is-the-last-one-you-re-going-to-manage/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [Writing songs is a trade like anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/writing-songs-is-a-trade-like-anything-else/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [Artists are not going to put somebody new in the president's chair. It's all worth the effort; it all needs to be done. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/artists-are-not-going-to-put-somebody-new-in-the-president-s-chair-it/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [I always saw songwriting as the top of the heap. No matter what else you were going to do creatively - and there were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/i-always-saw-songwriting-as-the-top-of-the-heap-no-matter-what-else/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [There are certainly a lot of people - and I won't name names - who are getting by simply on expression. And I guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/there-are-certainly-a-lot-of-people-and-i-won-t-name-names-who-are/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [I don't want to sing songs and write songs that need to have images behind them that are of a specific time. The times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/i-don-t-want-to-sing-songs-and-write-songs-that-need-to-have-images/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [I do look at songwriting as a lot of work. I don't over-intellectualize music as a special medium that only some people deserve to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/i-do-look-at-songwriting-as-a-lot-of-work-i-don-t-over/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [But there's got to be an opening somewhere here in front of me. Through this maze of ugliness and greed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/but-there-s-got-to-be-an-opening-somewhere-here-in-front-of-me/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [I don't like to sing things that just sound like they're going straight down the tubes, and they're circling the drain, and there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/i-don-t-like-to-sing-things-that-just-sound-like-they-re-going/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [My songs have always had hope and perseverance in them - I never write songs that have no escape hatch, no positivity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/my-songs-have-always-had-hope-and-perseverance-in-them-i-never-write/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [We've all had that experience where we hear a song that we've liked for many years, and we finally hear what the writer tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/we-ve-all-had-that-experience-where-we-hear-a-song-that-we-ve-liked/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) > [I'm waiting for my kids to grow up and get into the Offspring and look at me like I'm a total candy-ass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-dylan/i-m-waiting-for-my-kids-to-grow-up-and-get-into-the-offspring-and/) [Jakob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) [Explore all 59 Jakob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-dylan/) ## More Behind quotes > [With 'Pretty Girls,' I saw the opportunity to talk not just about crime but what crime leaves behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/with-pretty-girls-i-saw-the-opportunity-to-talk-not-just-about-crime/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [I'm not the type of player that's going to run in behind or go past three and score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-crouch/i-m-not-the-type-of-player-that-s-going-to-run-in-behind-or-go-past/) [Peter Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-crouch/) > [I hadn't been to drama school. I hadn't been to university and acted there. I had no qualifications behind me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jason/i-hadn-t-been-to-drama-school-i-hadn-t-been-to-university-and-acted/) [David Jason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jason/) > [For girls who want to get their waistline down a little bit and don't have any weights in the house, they can actually use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepa/for-girls-who-want-to-get-their-waistline-down-a-little-bit-and-don-t/) [Pepa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepa/) > [My sister-in-law works for a group that supports orphanages in Cairo. She and her colleagues take care of children left behind by circumstances beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/my-sister-in-law-works-for-a-group-that-supports-orphanages-in-cairo/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [I'm not on any social media; I don't even know what things are. I'm so behind the times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemarie-dewitt/i-m-not-on-any-social-media-i-don-t-even-know-what-things-are-i-m-so/) [Rosemarie DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemarie-dewitt/) > [I think we were raised in a nice Texas Jewish family where education was the most important thing, and close behind that was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-loeb/i-think-we-were-raised-in-a-nice-texas-jewish-family-where-education/) [Lisa Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-loeb/) > [I am hands-on in any project that I am associated with. I just don't want to put my face or name and lend it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-kardashian/i-am-hands-on-in-any-project-that-i-am-associated-with-i-just-don-t/) [Kim Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-kardashian/) > [I don't really have loads of friends - three or four who are close. The thing that I love the most is playing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-odell/i-don-t-really-have-loads-of-friends-three-or-four-who-are-close-the/) [Tom Odell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-odell/) > [There's something about the superheroes and the idea behind their relationship with humans, whether it's a metaphor for the better part of ourselves, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-gregg/there-s-something-about-the-superheroes-and-the-idea-behind-their/) [Clark Gregg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-gregg/) > [I refuse to say things behind people's backs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-refuse-to-say-things-behind-people-s-backs/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [There's a lot of mountain climbers trapped inside of bodies of people behind the counter at Kinko's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/there-s-a-lot-of-mountain-climbers-trapped-inside-of-bodies-of-people/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [From every little territory I've been, I've picked something up, things that I could use to better my game, to take with me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-babel/from-every-little-territory-i-ve-been-i-ve-picked-something-up-things/) [Ryan Babel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-babel/) > [I was a photographer. That's how I began my career, behind the camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-tripathi/i-was-a-photographer-that-s-how-i-began-my-career-behind-the-camera/) [Shweta Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-tripathi/) Browse all 1,625 Behind quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If all you were left believing was what you were seeing, it'd be nothing but desperate. 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