--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We imagine things — that we wouldn't be…" description: "\"We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive, but in fact, we do survive. ... We have no choice, so we do it.\" — Joan Didion" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/034/joan-didion-497_able_we-imagine-things-that-we-wouldn-t-be-ab_1579241.jpg" --- # We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive… ![“We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive, but in fact, we do survive. ... We have no choice, so we do it.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/034/joan-didion-497_able_we-imagine-things-that-we-wouldn-t-be-ab_1579241.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/034/joan-didion-497_able_we-imagine-things-that-we-wouldn-t-be-ab_1579241.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/034/joan-didion-497_able_we-imagine-things-that-we-wouldn-t-be-ab_1579241.jpg) > “We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive, but in fact, we do survive. ... We have no choice, so we do it.” [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans often think they cannot endure hardships, yet they persist despite lack of choice. **In simple terms:** We survive even when we think we can't. Key Takeaway Accept limits, keep moving forward. Themes resilience human nature survival Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crises - war zones - health challenges - career setbacks Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What unseen forces help you endure? - Do you underestimate your own resilience? A Different Perspective Survival may depend on external support, not just inner will. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) ## Related quotes > [I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it were not for the fact that I am being upheld by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/i-certainly-know-that-i-would-not-be-able-to-survive-if-it-were-not/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [“How do you survive for years in prison? You don’t think about years, or months, or weeks. You think about today—how to get through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/how-do-you-survive-for-years-in-prison-you-don-t-think-about-years-or/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [“At the time you've got skills and possessions, train yourself to be able to survive without them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/at-the-time-you-ve-got-skills-and-possessions-train-yourself-to-be/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“A long time ago, when you were a wee thing, you learned something, some way to cope, something that, if you did it, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-mckenzie/a-long-time-ago-when-you-were-a-wee-thing-you-learned-something-some/) [Mia McKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-mckenzie/) > [“We were not destined to survive. The fact is, we were not destined at all. The war would take what it could get.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-powers/we-were-not-destined-to-survive-the-fact-is-we-were-not-destined-at/) [Kevin Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-powers/) > [Imagination runs out. But it makes sense, right? We probably just imagine things based on what we already know, and we run out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sloan/imagination-runs-out-but-it-makes-sense-right-we-probably-just/) [Robin Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sloan/) > [I've always been able to survive by writing, though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milius/i-ve-always-been-able-to-survive-by-writing-though/) [John Milius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milius/) > [It's part of my character not to take myself too seriously. That's one of the reasons I've been able to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-west/it-s-part-of-my-character-not-to-take-myself-too-seriously-that-s-one/) [Adam West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-west/) > [Working on a studio picture, I can't help but be aware of all the political stuff that's going on. I have to work to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-pearce/working-on-a-studio-picture-i-can-t-help-but-be-aware-of-all-the/) [Guy Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-pearce/) > [I think I was able to survive five heart attacks because I never postponed going to the hospital when something didn't feel right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/i-think-i-was-able-to-survive-five-heart-attacks-because-i-never/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [I've been able to survive a lot of things, and I am especially interested in survivor stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariette-hartley/i-ve-been-able-to-survive-a-lot-of-things-and-i-am-especially/) [Mariette Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariette-hartley/) > [Faith may want answers, but somehow it is able to survive without them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-custis-james/faith-may-want-answers-but-somehow-it-is-able-to-survive-without-them/) [Carolyn Custis James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-custis-james/) > [“What we do now, we do so that someday mercy will be able to survive here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/what-we-do-now-we-do-so-that-someday-mercy-will-be-able-to-survive/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [I've had a lot of movies that didn't get great numbers on test screening, but a lot of times the film was able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-levinson/i-ve-had-a-lot-of-movies-that-didn-t-get-great-numbers-on-test/) [Barry Levinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-levinson/) > [Without comedy as a defense mechanism I wouldn't be able to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-shandling/without-comedy-as-a-defense-mechanism-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-survive/) [Garry Shandling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-shandling/) ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-no-longer-want-reminders-of-what-was-what-got-broken-what-got-lost/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [My mother 'gave teas' the way other mothers breathed. Her own mother 'gave teas.' All of their friends 'gave teas,' each involving butter cookies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-mother-gave-teas-the-way-other-mothers-breathed-her-own-mother/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. Later he said that if John had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-just-can-t-see-the-upside-in-this-i-heard-myself-say-by-way-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Explore all 515 Joan Didion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. 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