--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: you pay a price for the 'gift' of an…" description: "\"you pay a price for the 'gift' of an active imagination. While mine played a major part in making me a writer, it also made me adept at transforming ru..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/jean-little-50597_active_you-pay-a-price-for-the-gift-of-an-activ_2074593.png" --- # you pay a price for the 'gift' of an active imagination… ![“you pay a price for the 'gift' of an active imagination. While mine played a major part in making me a writer, it also made me adept at transforming run-of-the-mill molehills into towering mountain ranges.” quote by Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/jean-little-50597_active_you-pay-a-price-for-the-gift-of-an-activ_2074593.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/jean-little-50597_active_you-pay-a-price-for-the-gift-of-an-activ_2074593.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/jean-little-50597_active_you-pay-a-price-for-the-gift-of-an-activ_2074593.png) > “you pay a price for the 'gift' of an active imagination. While mine played a major part in making me a writer, it also made me adept at transforming run-of-the-mill molehills into towering mountain ranges.” [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Active imagination fuels creativity but can amplify minor worries into major anxieties. **In simple terms:** Imagination can magnify problems. Key Takeaway Balance imagination with realism. Themes creativity imagination anxiety Mood insightful thoughtful Type psychological creative When to use this quote - creative professions - personal growth - education - therapy Key Concepts mental health writing problem solving Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination aid your work? - When does it become harmful? A Different Perspective May undervalue the benefits of imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Mountain ranges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain-ranges/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Transforming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transforming/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [In picture-making the writer is the most important cog in the wheel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/in-picture-making-the-writer-is-the-most-important-cog-in-the-wheel/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [“I think if you want to make a recipe for making a writer, have them feel a little out of place everywhere, have them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-manuel-miranda/i-think-if-you-want-to-make-a-recipe-for-making-a-writer-have-them/) [Lin-Manuel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-manuel-miranda/) > [I think if you want to make a recipe for making a writer, have them feel a little out of place everywhere, have them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-manuel-miranda/i-think-if-you-want-to-make-a-recipe-for-making-a-writer-have-them-2/) [Lin-Manuel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-manuel-miranda/) > [Predating the Internet and predating videos, you had an active imagination. You would hear sounds and then get mental pictures of what these sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/q-tip/predating-the-internet-and-predating-videos-you-had-an-active/) [Q-Tip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/q-tip/) > [“None of us need ever fear that we don't have an active imagination, because imagination is mostly a willingness to entertain a strange idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-dodson/none-of-us-need-ever-fear-that-we-don-t-have-an-active-imagination/) [Bert Dodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-dodson/) > [I have an active imagination, and music opens the floodgates of that area of my brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-mcdermitt/i-have-an-active-imagination-and-music-opens-the-floodgates-of-that/) [Josh McDermitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-mcdermitt/) > [“What, then, is active imagination? In practice it’s exactly what Jung did in his visions and conversations with inner figures such as Philemon, Ka,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/what-then-is-active-imagination-in-practice-it-s-exactly-what-jung/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [I spend a lot of time practicing active imagination before I go to sleep. What I'm feeling will manifest as images through active imagination.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-mangum/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-practicing-active-imagination-before-i-go-to/) [Jeff Mangum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-mangum/) > [Active imagination requires a state of reverie, half-way between sleep and waking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/active-imagination-requires-a-state-of-reverie-half-way-between-sleep/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“You are never too old to have an active imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-reighard/you-are-never-too-old-to-have-an-active-imagination/) [Carla Reighard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-reighard/) > [I've always had an active imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rickie-lee-jones/i-ve-always-had-an-active-imagination/) [Rickie Lee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rickie-lee-jones/) > [“Anyone who does creative work is familiar with this problem, and in many ways active imagination is similar to writing, painting, and so on;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-valentine-lachman/anyone-who-does-creative-work-is-familiar-with-this-problem-and-in/) [Gary Valentine Lachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-valentine-lachman/) > [I suppose I have an active imagination, and writing allows me to live it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/i-suppose-i-have-an-active-imagination-and-writing-allows-me-to-live/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [“I try to distract myself from reality by wielding an active imagination. Then I have nightmares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/i-try-to-distract-myself-from-reality-by-wielding-an-active/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [Love, however, is very materially assisted by a warm and active imagination: which has a long memory, and will thrive, for a considerable time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/love-however-is-very-materially-assisted-by-a-warm-and-active/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Jean Little > [The only food he has ever stolen has been down on a coffee table. He claims that he genuinely believed it to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-little/the-only-food-he-has-ever-stolen-has-been-down-on-a-coffee-table-he/) [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) > [In this life, nobody has forever in which to leave home, to return, to make a new home, or to open the door to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-little/in-this-life-nobody-has-forever-in-which-to-leave-home-to-return-to/) [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) > [Your only responsibility as a writer is to be true to the story that has chosen you as its writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-little/your-only-responsibility-as-a-writer-is-to-be-true-to-the-story-that/) [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) > [“A man can work from sun to sun, But a woman's work is never done.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-little/a-man-can-work-from-sun-to-sun-but-a-woman-s-work-is-never-done/) [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) > [While he has not, in my hearing, spoken the English language, he makes it perfectly plain that he understands it. And he uses his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-little/while-he-has-not-in-my-hearing-spoken-the-english-language-he-makes/) [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) > [“Least said, soonest mended," Toby quipped, quoting a saying Jess often used.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-little/least-said-soonest-mended-toby-quipped-quoting-a-saying-jess-often/) [Jean Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) [Explore all 7 Jean Little quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-little/) ## More Active quotes > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [We in US need active intelligence: people being on the streets, people being able to stop and ask questions of individuals that they suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/we-in-us-need-active-intelligence-people-being-on-the-streets-people/) [Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/) [Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/) > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [The answer to any challenge you are having has nothing to do with God's willingness to help. It has to do with your acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/the-answer-to-any-challenge-you-are-having-has-nothing-to-do-with-god/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [You need to enjoy yourself and just get into the routine of keeping fit and enjoying being active. That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/) [Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/) Browse all 2,212 Active quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "you pay a price for the 'gift' of an active imagination. 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