--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't like the fact that no one has any…" description: "\"I don't like the fact that no one has any imagination anymore. It doesn't pay to be a dreamer because all they really want you to do is answer the phon..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/joe-meno-7831_america_i-don-t-like-the-fact-that-no-one-has-an_1818651.jpg" --- # I don't like the fact that no one has any imagination… ![“I don't like the fact that no one has any imagination anymore. It doesn't pay to be a dreamer because all they really want you to do is answer the phone. Nobody wants you to think about anything new or use your brain or make anything interesting because everything important has already been made…” quote by Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/joe-meno-7831_america_i-don-t-like-the-fact-that-no-one-has-an_1818651.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/joe-meno-7831_america_i-don-t-like-the-fact-that-no-one-has-an_1818651.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/joe-meno-7831_america_i-don-t-like-the-fact-that-no-one-has-an_1818651.jpg) > “I don't like the fact that no one has any imagination anymore. It doesn't pay to be a dreamer because all they really want you to do is answer the phone. Nobody wants you to think about anything new or use your brain or make anything interesting because everything important has already been made. America is over; it's done being brilliant.Everything genius has already been built, like all the great works of art have already been produced.” [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He laments a cultural stagnation where originality is undervalued and conformity dominates. **In simple terms:** He thinks creativity is being ignored. Key Takeaway Cultivate and protect original ideas. Themes culture creativity conformity innovation disillusionment Mood cynical reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - marketing campaigns - educational curricula - artistic collaborations - policy advocacy Key Concepts cultural decay creative suppression media fatigue Questions to Reflect On - What spaces nurture true imagination? - How can you support daring creators? A Different Perspective Innovation still thrives in niche communities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Answer The Phone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answer-the-phone/) [Answers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answers/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Dreamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreamer/) [Fact Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fact-imagination-2175069/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Great work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-work/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Anymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-anymore-2175067/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Over it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over-it/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Pay Dreamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-dreamer-2175068/) [Phones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phones/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Well, the fact is that one imagination is critically important, and if you have had your imagination stimulated by what is basically a variety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-judd/well-the-fact-is-that-one-imagination-is-critically-important-and-if/) [Ashley Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-judd/) > [“We often think we know things when in fact it's only our imagination taking us further and further away from what is actually happening.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hagen/we-often-think-we-know-things-when-in-fact-it-s-only-our-imagination/) [Steve Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hagen/) > [When one man has reduced a fact of the imagination to be a fact to his understanding, I foresee that all men will at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-one-man-has-reduced-a-fact-of-the-imagination-to-be-a-fact-to/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“I really do. It’s the first time I don’t have to think at work, you know. It’s really simple. You just answer the phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/i-really-do-it-s-the-first-time-i-don-t-have-to-think-at-work-you/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [No one is able to produce a great work of art without experience, nor achieve a worldly position immediately, nor be a great lover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/no-one-is-able-to-produce-a-great-work-of-art-without-experience-nor/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [All the great things we know have come to us from neurotics. It is they who have founded religions and created great works of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/all-the-great-things-we-know-have-come-to-us-from-neurotics-it-is/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/less-disappointing-than-life-great-works-of-art-do-not-begin-by/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Most of the books that I've adapted I'm doing because I love the book and I feel like it's a great work of art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/most-of-the-books-that-i-ve-adapted-i-m-doing-because-i-love-the-book/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [I feel genius in great works of art. I have seen medical cures that science can't explain, some seemingly triggered by faith. The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/i-feel-genius-in-great-works-of-art-i-have-seen-medical-cures-that/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [A visionary company is like a great work of art. Think of Michelangelo's scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/a-visionary-company-is-like-a-great-work-of-art-think-of-michelangelo/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [We must get beyond passions, like a great work of art. In such miraculous harmony. We should learn to love each other so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/we-must-get-beyond-passions-like-a-great-work-of-art-in-such/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [The need to be a great artist makes it hard to be an artist. The need to produce a great work of art makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/the-need-to-be-a-great-artist-makes-it-hard-to-be-an-artist-the-need/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [The great work of art is the complete banality, and the fault with most banalities is that they are not banal enough. Banality here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-great-work-of-art-is-the-complete-banality-and-the-fault-with/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel/i-want-my-whole-life-to-be-a-great-work-of-art-not-just-my-art-and/) [Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel/) > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## More by Joe Meno > [Our worlds are so momentary. We are along all our lives and then go off that way as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/our-worlds-are-so-momentary-we-are-along-all-our-lives-and-then-go/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [I was getting close to thirty and was trying on the idea of becoming more mature. I was reading more. I had gone out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/i-was-getting-close-to-thirty-and-was-trying-on-the-idea-of-becoming/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“wondered about what he said and then thought hard. I could never be a dick, not to Gretchen anyway, so I guess I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/wondered-about-what-he-said-and-then-thought-hard-i-could-never-be-a/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“Go to a goddamn priest if you wanna be lied to. I've seen too many of your kind slip back inside to fool myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/go-to-a-goddamn-priest-if-you-wanna-be-lied-to-i-ve-seen-too-many-of/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [Maybe that's why people have friends at all. Not because they like them so much but because they don't make them feel so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/maybe-that-s-why-people-have-friends-at-all-not-because-they-like/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“Madeline decides Jonathan is an immature, selfish asshole and that she is never talking to him again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/madeline-decides-jonathan-is-an-immature-selfish-asshole-and-that-she/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“-Are you ready to return to the outside world, Billy? -No, definitely not, sir. -Well, you can't stay here forever now, can you? -Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/are-you-ready-to-return-to-the-outside-world-billy-no-definitely-not/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“The more you like a girl, the less she likes you. It’s like fucking scientific.” “What about you and Kim?” “That’s what I’m talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/the-more-you-like-a-girl-the-less-she-likes-you-it-s-like-fucking/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“Jack: Well, I've never been to New York, but I hear it's for assholes. Odile: It's not. Jack: Well, that's what I heard. Cool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/jack-well-i-ve-never-been-to-new-york-but-i-hear-it-s-for-assholes/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“How’s life?” “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/how-s-life-that-s-the-stupidest-question-i-ve-ever-heard/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [We have fun acting like this, acting like we are incredibly offended. Really, we are just bored to tears with everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/we-have-fun-acting-like-this-acting-like-we-are-incredibly-offended/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“For years, Thisbe will later think of that one moment in the field as the only time she was ever sure about anything in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/for-years-thisbe-will-later-think-of-that-one-moment-in-the-field-as/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [What I've learned is that there is nothing in this life that does not fail to disappoint us, even our own deaths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/what-i-ve-learned-is-that-there-is-nothing-in-this-life-that-does-not/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“And he says, “I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with me. And I think I realized that I’m average, that there’s nothing remarkable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/and-he-says-i-m-trying-to-figure-out-what-s-wrong-with-me-and-i-think/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) > [“Without death, there is hardly any threat strong enough to truly appreciate human life. He thinks: I am as good as dead--too afraid to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-meno/without-death-there-is-hardly-any-threat-strong-enough-to-truly/) [Joe Meno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) [Explore all 87 Joe Meno quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-meno/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't like the fact that no one has any imagination anymore. It doesn't pay to be a dreamer because all they really want you to do is answer the phone. 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