--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Can you imagine? That you can say…" description: "\"“Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what it's like to hear ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/jesse-ball-10640_imagine_can-you-imagine-that-you-can-say-somethi_446084.jpg" --- # Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and… ![“Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what it's like to hear something like that? To hear someone say something and feel the world ripple around you?” quote by Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/jesse-ball-10640_imagine_can-you-imagine-that-you-can-say-somethi_446084.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/jesse-ball-10640_imagine_can-you-imagine-that-you-can-say-somethi_446084.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed9/jesse-ball-10640_imagine_can-you-imagine-that-you-can-say-somethi_446084.jpg) > ““Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what it's like to hear something like that? To hear someone say something and feel the world ripple around you?”” [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A single offhand comment can profoundly affect another, showing that words carry unexpected weight. **In simple terms:** Words can deeply affect others. Key Takeaway Speak mindfully, consider impact. Themes communication empathy impact Mood thoughtful empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - online comments - classroom discussions - personal relationships - public speaking Key Concepts linguistics social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How might you test the impact of your words? - When have you felt a comment change your perspective? A Different Perspective Not all remarks are intended to be powerful, leading to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“No matter how you imagine something to be, it’s not what you imagine it to be. Any thought you have isn’t real or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-hochberg/no-matter-how-you-imagine-something-to-be-it-s-not-what-you-imagine/) [Art Hochberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-hochberg/) > [“God, could you even imagine? What would I say? Hello Mr. Moretti, I’m in need of some oral assistance. Would you be so kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krista-ritchie/god-could-you-even-imagine-what-would-i-say-hello-mr-moretti-i-m-in/) [Krista Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krista-ritchie/) > [If these walls could speak, imagine what would they say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose/if-these-walls-could-speak-imagine-what-would-they-say/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose/) > [That's the way I work: I try to imagine what I would like to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-coppola/that-s-the-way-i-work-i-try-to-imagine-what-i-would-like-to-see/) [Sofia Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-coppola/) > [I can’t imagine what it would be like to have had her company in my head—the comfort that would’ve brought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/i-can-t-imagine-what-it-would-be-like-to-have-had-her-company-in-my/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [I used to imagine what it would be like to do what Jim Brown was doing. I used to imagine what it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmitt-smith/i-used-to-imagine-what-it-would-be-like-to-do-what-jim-brown-was/) [Emmitt Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmitt-smith/) > [I've never been overseas. I can only imagine what that's like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-fehr/i-ve-never-been-overseas-i-can-only-imagine-what-that-s-like/) [Brendan Fehr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-fehr/) > [Through engagement with others, literature lets us imagine what it would be like to be differe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-donoghue/through-engagement-with-others-literature-lets-us-imagine-what-it-2/) [Denis Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-donoghue/) > [Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up... now try to imagine what it was like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/try-to-imagine-what-it-will-be-like-to-go-to-sleep-and-never-wake-up/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I just ddnt imagine someone like you would like someone like me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-just-ddnt-imagine-someone-like-you-would-like-someone-like-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Love looks more beautiful when you imagine it, As You Like It.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaurav-bharti/love-looks-more-beautiful-when-you-imagine-it-as-you-like-it/) Gaurav Bharti > [Just try to imagine what it would be like to be 300 million years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/just-try-to-imagine-what-it-would-be-like-to-be-300-million-years-old/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [Can you imagine what it's like for you to be who I am, who I was, and for them to say that I raped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/can-you-imagine-what-it-s-like-for-you-to-be-who-i-am-who-i-was-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-heath/once-we-know-something-we-find-it-hard-to-imagine-what-it-was-like/) [Chip Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-heath/) > [“Nothing is unreal as long as you can imagine like a crow”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/nothing-is-unreal-as-long-as-you-can-imagine-like-a-crow/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) ## More by Jesse Ball > [“-Lara is a weasel. I've always hated her. The only happy week I had as a child was when she fell from the roof…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/lara-is-a-weasel-i-ve-always-hated-her-the-only-happy-week-i-had-as-a/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I'd say writing is easier for me now than it once was, but I do less of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-d-say-writing-is-easier-for-me-now-than-it-once-was-but-i-do-less/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“Our knowledge about ourselves is our least reliable knowledge. Yet, so thoroughly do we ordinarily champion our own cause that it is acknowledged effective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/our-knowledge-about-ourselves-is-our-least-reliable-knowledge-yet-so/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Not that believing such things has anything to do with whether they are true. You see that, don't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/not-that-believing-such-things-has-anything-to-do-with-whether-they/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“We are born in this cemetery, but must not despair. -Piet Soron, 1847”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/we-are-born-in-this-cemetery-but-must-not-despair-piet-soron-1847/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I have a different purpose in writing each novel. Some of them seem more similar than others, but the purposes are always different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-have-a-different-purpose-in-writing-each-novel-some-of-them-seem/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Americans are genuinely and profoundly anti-intellectual. They are especially so in their pleasure-seeking, which is epically banal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/americans-are-genuinely-and-profoundly-anti-intellectual-they-are/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Sunday was always the best of days for being the self you had intended to be, but were not, for one reason or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/sunday-was-always-the-best-of-days-for-being-the-self-you-had/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I don't think anything needs to happen in a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-don-t-think-anything-needs-to-happen-in-a-book/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [One can't say how one behaved or why, really. Such situations, they are far more complex than any either/or proposition. It is simplistic to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/one-can-t-say-how-one-behaved-or-why-really-such-situations-they-are/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“One cultivates one's life, one's friends, one's means, one's hopes. One goes from place to place, from triumph to triumph, in search of ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/one-cultivates-one-s-life-one-s-friends-one-s-means-one-s-hopes-one/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“The whole thing about people living on in memory is a crock of shit. The best you can do is try to remember what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/the-whole-thing-about-people-living-on-in-memory-is-a-crock-of-shit/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [That would be the death of anyone - to recognize false hopes with a certainty. One mustn't know that. If it is offered, refuse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/that-would-be-the-death-of-anyone-to-recognize-false-hopes-with-a/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I believe in discovering the love that exists and then trying to understand it. Not to invent a love and try to make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-believe-in-discovering-the-love-that-exists-and-then-trying-to/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Much of my work has been done in first person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/much-of-my-work-has-been-done-in-first-person/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) [Explore all 63 Jesse Ball quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) ## More Imagine quotes > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Many patients imagine that they have tried everything. True, they have used many remedies, but they have never had the cause of their infirmity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/many-patients-imagine-that-they-have-tried-everything-true-they-have/) [Daniel D. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-d-palmer/) > [It seems an insult to nature and to the Creator to imagine that pregnancy was ever intended to be a sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-bisbee-duffey/it-seems-an-insult-to-nature-and-to-the-creator-to-imagine-that/) Eliza Bisbee Duffey > [A vacuum can only exist, I imagine, by the things which enclose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/a-vacuum-can-only-exist-i-imagine-by-the-things-which-enclose-it/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [Never in a million years would I imagine Calvin Klein flying me out to my first men's fashion show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-dallas/never-in-a-million-years-would-i-imagine-calvin-klein-flying-me-out/) [Cameron Dallas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-dallas/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I can't imagine not working, really. I just think work's more fun than fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-quant/i-can-t-imagine-not-working-really-i-just-think-work-s-more-fun-than/) [Mary Quant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-quant/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [ I can't imagine that I would be asked that by the president-elect \[Donald Trump\], or then-president \[Barack Obama\]. But it's - I'm very clear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/i-can-t-imagine-that-i-would-be-asked-that-by-the-president-elect/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [We live in such a special time when literally anything we can think of is possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-willey/we-live-in-such-a-special-time-when-literally-anything-we-can-think/) [Daniel Willey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-willey/) > [Imagine what you'd do if it absolutely didn't matter what people thought of you. Got it? Good. Never go back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/imagine-what-you-d-do-if-it-absolutely-didn-t-matter-what-people/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [ Together he \[Girolamo Savonarola\] and his archenemy Lorenzo \[de' Medici\] would have been the stuff of gargoyles. One could almost imagine the diptych in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dunant/together-he-girolamo-savonarola-and-his-archenemy-lorenzo-de-medici/) [Sarah Dunant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dunant/) Browse all 6,768 Imagine quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what it's like to hear something like that? 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