--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Metaphor lives a secret life all around…" description: "\"Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/james-geary-25748_communicate_metaphor-lives-a-secret-life-all-around_937103.png" --- # Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about… ![“Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate and learn, discover and invent.” quote by James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/james-geary-25748_communicate_metaphor-lives-a-secret-life-all-around_937103.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/james-geary-25748_communicate_metaphor-lives-a-secret-life-all-around_937103.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb6/james-geary-25748_communicate_metaphor-lives-a-secret-life-all-around_937103.png) > “Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate and learn, discover and invent.” [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Metaphors shape perception; they are pervasive and essential for understanding and creativity. **In simple terms:** Metaphors shape how we think. Key Takeaway Recognize and employ metaphors to enhance communication. Themes language creativity cognition Mood insightful analytical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - teaching - marketing - therapy - storytelling Key Concepts cognitive linguistics symbolic thought innovation Questions to Reflect On - What metaphors shape your worldview? - How can metaphor improve problem solving? A Different Perspective Overreliance may obscure literal meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Metaphors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphors/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secret life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-life/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. 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It is a term that I detest because it distresses me greatly, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/i-beg-the-reader-not-to-go-in-search-of-messages-it-is-a-term-that-i/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [I think about dying but I don't want to die. Not even close. In fact my problem is the complete opposite. I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-healy/i-think-about-dying-but-i-don-t-want-to-die-not-even-close-in-fact-my/) [Matthew Healy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-healy/) > [If I am allowed to give a metaphorical allusion to the future state of the blessed, I should imagine it by the orange-grove in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphry-davy/if-i-am-allowed-to-give-a-metaphorical-allusion-to-the-future-state/) [Humphry Davy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphry-davy/) > [An enormous amount of scientific language is metaphorical. We talk about a genetic code, where code originally meant a cipher; we talk about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/an-enormous-amount-of-scientific-language-is-metaphorical-we-talk/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Instead of of being so metaphorical with the rhyme, I was encouraged to go straight at it and hit it dead on and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/instead-of-of-being-so-metaphorical-with-the-rhyme-i-was-encouraged/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [I think you sense the metaphorical resonance of what you're writing without analysing it too carefully. That leads you down dead ends. 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I'm less attached to my settings than,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/throughout-my-career-i-ve-struggled-to-encourage-people-to-read-my/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [And what is the very essence of poetry if it is not this 'metaphorical language'-this marking of the before unapprehended relations of things?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-barfield/and-what-is-the-very-essence-of-poetry-if-it-is-not-this-metaphorical/) [Owen Barfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-barfield/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Cyberspace' is a metaphorical idea which is supposed to be the space where your consciousness is located when you're using computer technology on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/cyberspace-is-a-metaphorical-idea-which-is-supposed-to-be-the-space/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## More by James Geary > [A simile is just a metaphor with the scaffolding still up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/a-simile-is-just-a-metaphor-with-the-scaffolding-still-up/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [You only really discover the strength of your spine when your back is against the wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/you-only-really-discover-the-strength-of-your-spine-when-your-back-is/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [“Why must an aphorism be brief? Because only a fool gives a speech in a burning house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/why-must-an-aphorism-be-brief-because-only-a-fool-gives-a-speech-in-a/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [In the margin for error lies all our room for maneuver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/in-the-margin-for-error-lies-all-our-room-for-maneuver/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [There is no aspect of our experience not molded in some way by metaphor's almost imperceptible touch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/there-is-no-aspect-of-our-experience-not-molded-in-some-way-by/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [“For life is short and the art of writing books is very, very long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/for-life-is-short-and-the-art-of-writing-books-is-very-very-long/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/metaphor-lives-a-secret-life-all-around-us-we-utter-about-six/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [Heroism often results as a response to extreme events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/heroism-often-results-as-a-response-to-extreme-events/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [Metaphor impinges on everything, allowing us - poets and non-poets alike - to experience and think about the world in fluid, unusual ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/metaphor-impinges-on-everything-allowing-us-poets-and-non-poets-alike/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [I believe aphorisms are best when first read in the wild, free from the confines of any categories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/i-believe-aphorisms-are-best-when-first-read-in-the-wild-free-from/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [Aphorisms are literature's hand luggage. Light and compact, they fit easily into the overhead compartment of your brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/aphorisms-are-literature-s-hand-luggage-light-and-compact-they-fit/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [Sometimes, you need a door slammed in your face before you can hear opportunity knock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/sometimes-you-need-a-door-slammed-in-your-face-before-you-can-hear/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [Advice is given freely because so much of it is worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/advice-is-given-freely-because-so-much-of-it-is-worthless/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [London always reminds me of a brain. It is similarly convoluted and circuitous. 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