--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Real shapes and real patterns are things…" description: "\"Real shapes and real patterns are things you would observe in nature, like the marks on the back of a cobra's hood or the markings on a fish or a lizar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png" --- # Real shapes and real patterns are things you would observe… ![“Real shapes and real patterns are things you would observe in nature, like the marks on the back of a cobra's hood or the markings on a fish or a lizard. Imaginary shapes are just that, symbols that come to a person in dreams or reveries and are charged with meaning.” quote by Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png) > “Real shapes and real patterns are things you would observe in nature, like the marks on the back of a cobra's hood or the markings on a fish or a lizard. Imaginary shapes are just that, symbols that come to a person in dreams or reveries and are charged with meaning.” [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Real shapes are natural patterns observed in the world; imaginary shapes are symbolic, dream‑derived images with personal meaning. **In simple terms:** Nature shows real patterns; dreams give symbolic shapes. Key Takeaway Notice how natural forms inspire creative symbols. Themes nature perception symbolism creativity Mood reflective inquisitive Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - Artistic design - biology research - psychology studies - creative writing Key Concepts Pattern recognition symbolic meaning dream analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do natural patterns influence your imagination? - When do symbolic shapes become useful? A Different Perspective Imaginary symbols may lack universal relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Reverie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reverie/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Symbols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symbols/) ## Related quotes > [But a few choosing to venture deeper into the painful corridors of their affliction, found after a while that they could now grind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/but-a-few-choosing-to-venture-deeper-into-the-painful-corridors-of/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [The city of angels? It's the city of devils. The city of smiling cobras.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-young/the-city-of-angels-it-s-the-city-of-devils-the-city-of-smiling-cobras/) [Sean Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-young/) > [The reason I moved to California the first time was to build the Cobra. I thought it was stupid to have a 1918 taxicab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-shelby/the-reason-i-moved-to-california-the-first-time-was-to-build-the/) [Carroll Shelby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-shelby/) > [One of the reasons I appreciate being in a Pirates uniform is the greats who have worn it in the past. There was Bill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-mccutchen/one-of-the-reasons-i-appreciate-being-in-a-pirates-uniform-is-the/) [Andrew McCutchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-mccutchen/) > [If someone were to ask me for a short cut to sensuality, I would suggest he go shopping for a used 427 Shelby-Cobra. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-sahl/if-someone-were-to-ask-me-for-a-short-cut-to-sensuality-i-would/) [Mort Sahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-sahl/) > [He was WBC champion, I was mandatory. He had his opportunity to earn big money and defend against me, and he chose not to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/he-was-wbc-champion-i-was-mandatory-he-had-his-opportunity-to-earn/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [The chronic kicker, even the most violent critic, will frequently soften and be subdued in the presence of a patient, sympathetic listener— a listener…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/the-chronic-kicker-even-the-most-violent-critic-will-frequently/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [A woman in such an emotional tempest is as perilous as a blind cobra to any about her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-howard/a-woman-in-such-an-emotional-tempest-is-as-perilous-as-a-blind-cobra/) [Robert E. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-howard/) > [In everything we do, the serpent ego is rising up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/in-everything-we-do-the-serpent-ego-is-rising-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Mother Nature is always speaking. She speaks in a language understood within the peaceful mind of the sincere observer. Leopards, cobras, monkeys, rivers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/mother-nature-is-always-speaking-she-speaks-in-a-language-understood/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [You may control a mad elephant; You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger; Ride the lion and play with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/you-may-control-a-mad-elephant-you-may-shut-the-mouth-of-the-bear-and/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [Like a cobra, your strike should be felt before it is seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/like-a-cobra-your-strike-should-be-felt-before-it-is-seen/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [I am from the jungle where the lion eats the cobra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-am-from-the-jungle-where-the-lion-eats-the-cobra/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [That's how quickly New York City comes about - like a weather wane - or the head of a cobra. Time tells which.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/that-s-how-quickly-new-york-city-comes-about-like-a-weather-wane-or/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More by Jim Woodring > [If I had learned how to get along in the quotidian world while keeping up the search for the hidden realm, I might have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/if-i-had-learned-how-to-get-along-in-the-quotidian-world-while/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [Leslie Stein's comics give readers privileged access to a complete and wholly original world of gently skewed wonders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/leslie-stein-s-comics-give-readers-privileged-access-to-a-complete/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [People for whom art is religion can say, "What I love about art is that it points to a higher reality." Well, fine, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/people-for-whom-art-is-religion-can-say-what-i-love-about-art-is-that/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [I have a personal definition of cartooning, which is, simply, "imaginative drawing." Anything you're drawing that is not in front of you but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/i-have-a-personal-definition-of-cartooning-which-is-simply/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [I do sort of feel like I'm building my monument with what I do, but it's pretty small and inconsequential compared to real works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/i-do-sort-of-feel-like-i-m-building-my-monument-with-what-i-do-but-it/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [Doing a story about my mundane, waking life, how much I don't like my job, or breaking up with someone, I don't think so.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/doing-a-story-about-my-mundane-waking-life-how-much-i-don-t-like-my/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [Alternative cartoonists have to rely on comic book stores to get their stuff in the hands of readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/alternative-cartoonists-have-to-rely-on-comic-book-stores-to-get/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [It's funny, in some of the interviews I've seen that were done for the film, some people say things like, 'Oh, I was never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/it-s-funny-in-some-of-the-interviews-i-ve-seen-that-were-done-for-the/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [“The 10's(2010) are a baby kangaroo, a bill overdue, a coal chute for staggering millions, a bowl of camphor punch, the fast-dissolving afterimages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/the-10-s-2010-are-a-baby-kangaroo-a-bill-overdue-a-coal-chute-for/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [When I was setting out to be an artist, I said: If I can just produce one work that some people think is good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/when-i-was-setting-out-to-be-an-artist-i-said-if-i-can-just-produce/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [A tree is an incomprehensible mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/a-tree-is-an-incomprehensible-mystery/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [The books that I do, the stories I write - I'm glad I'm able to do them, but they will quickly be swallowed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/the-books-that-i-do-the-stories-i-write-i-m-glad-i-m-able-to-do-them/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [The fiction I tend to like is nothing like my own work. I like the kind of writing that shows me things I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/the-fiction-i-tend-to-like-is-nothing-like-my-own-work-i-like-the/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [Oh, I was never a very big Jim Woodring fan. I've never thought his work was that great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/oh-i-was-never-a-very-big-jim-woodring-fan-i-ve-never-thought-his/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) > [In a long story like 'Weathercraft,' it becomes kind of convoluted. It can become perhaps difficult to remember what led up to whatever point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/in-a-long-story-like-weathercraft-it-becomes-kind-of-convoluted-it/) [Jim Woodring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) [Explore all 41 Jim Woodring quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/) ## More Cobras quotes > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [That's how quickly New York City comes about - like a weather wane - or the head of a cobra. Time tells which.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/that-s-how-quickly-new-york-city-comes-about-like-a-weather-wane-or/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [I am from the jungle where the lion eats the cobra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-am-from-the-jungle-where-the-lion-eats-the-cobra/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [Like a cobra, your strike should be felt before it is seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/like-a-cobra-your-strike-should-be-felt-before-it-is-seen/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [You may control a mad elephant; You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger; Ride the lion and play with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/you-may-control-a-mad-elephant-you-may-shut-the-mouth-of-the-bear-and/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [Mother Nature is always speaking. She speaks in a language understood within the peaceful mind of the sincere observer. Leopards, cobras, monkeys, rivers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/mother-nature-is-always-speaking-she-speaks-in-a-language-understood/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [In everything we do, the serpent ego is rising up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/in-everything-we-do-the-serpent-ego-is-rising-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [A woman in such an emotional tempest is as perilous as a blind cobra to any about her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-howard/a-woman-in-such-an-emotional-tempest-is-as-perilous-as-a-blind-cobra/) [Robert E. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-howard/) > [The chronic kicker, even the most violent critic, will frequently soften and be subdued in the presence of a patient, sympathetic listener— a listener…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/the-chronic-kicker-even-the-most-violent-critic-will-frequently/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [He was WBC champion, I was mandatory. He had his opportunity to earn big money and defend against me, and he chose not to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-froch/he-was-wbc-champion-i-was-mandatory-he-had-his-opportunity-to-earn/) [Carl Froch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-froch/) > [If someone were to ask me for a short cut to sensuality, I would suggest he go shopping for a used 427 Shelby-Cobra. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-sahl/if-someone-were-to-ask-me-for-a-short-cut-to-sensuality-i-would/) [Mort Sahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-sahl/) > [One of the reasons I appreciate being in a Pirates uniform is the greats who have worn it in the past. There was Bill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-mccutchen/one-of-the-reasons-i-appreciate-being-in-a-pirates-uniform-is-the/) [Andrew McCutchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-mccutchen/) > [The reason I moved to California the first time was to build the Cobra. I thought it was stupid to have a 1918 taxicab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-shelby/the-reason-i-moved-to-california-the-first-time-was-to-build-the/) [Carroll Shelby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-shelby/) > [The city of angels? It's the city of devils. The city of smiling cobras.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-young/the-city-of-angels-it-s-the-city-of-devils-the-city-of-smiling-cobras/) [Sean Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-young/) > [“Every old ruin in India becomes sooner or later a dwelling place of snakes, and the old summer-house was alive with cobras.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/every-old-ruin-in-india-becomes-sooner-or-later-a-dwelling-place-of/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) Browse all 41 Cobras quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Real shapes and real patterns are things you would observe in nature, like the marks on the back of a cobra's hood or the markings on a fish or a lizard. Imaginary shapes are just that, symbols that come to a person in dreams or reveries and are charged with meaning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jim Woodring" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things-you-would-observe-in-nature/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cobras" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things-you-would-observe-in-nature/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/jim-woodring-15923_cobras_real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things_731881.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Real shapes and real patterns are things you would observe in nature, like the marks on the back of a…” — Jim Woodring", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jim Woodring", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-woodring/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Real shapes and real patterns are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things-you-would-observe-in-nature/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-woodring/real-shapes-and-real-patterns-are-things-you-would-observe-in-nature/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```