--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The imagination is the medium of…" description: "\"The imagination is the medium of appreciation in every field. The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/john-dewey-545_activity_the-imagination-is-the-medium-of-appreci_3051479.png" --- # The imagination is the medium of appreciation in every… ![“The imagination is the medium of appreciation in every field. The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mechanical. Unfortunately, it is too customary to identify the imaginative with the imaginary, rather than with a warm and intimate taking in of the…” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/john-dewey-545_activity_the-imagination-is-the-medium-of-appreci_3051479.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/john-dewey-545_activity_the-imagination-is-the-medium-of-appreci_3051479.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/614/john-dewey-545_activity_the-imagination-is-the-medium-of-appreci_3051479.png) > “The imagination is the medium of appreciation in every field. The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mechanical. Unfortunately, it is too customary to identify the imaginative with the imaginary, rather than with a warm and intimate taking in of the full scope of a situation.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagination enriches activities beyond mechanical execution, yet is often confused with fantasy. **In simple terms:** Imagination adds depth beyond mechanics. Key Takeaway Cultivate imaginative thinking. Themes education imagination creativity philosophy learning Mood inspired thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - classroom design - art projects - problem solving - personal hobbies Key Concepts constructivism aesthetic experience critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can imagination be measured? - What balances imagination and practicality? A Different Perspective May be undervalued in curricula. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appreciation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appreciation/) [Engagement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engagement/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imaginative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/) [Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate/) [Scope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scope/) ## Related quotes > [ “\[Imagination\] is the one thing beside honesty that a good writer must have. The more he learns from experience the more he can imagine.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/imagination-is-the-one-thing-beside-honesty-that-a-good-writer-must/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“All this is just an intent based imagination (kalpana). So then in imagination, there is no such thing as 'This is right' and 'This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/all-this-is-just-an-intent-based-imagination-kalpana-so-then-in/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Imagination? It is the one thing beside honesty that a good writer must have. The more he learns from experience the more he can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/imagination-it-is-the-one-thing-beside-honesty-that-a-good-writer-2/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I had an incredibly full life with my imagination: I used to have all sorts of trolls and things; I had a wonderful world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bush/i-had-an-incredibly-full-life-with-my-imagination-i-used-to-have-all/) [Kate Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bush/) > [Fortunately, somewhere between chance and mystery lies imagination, the only thing that protects our freedom, despite the fact that people keep trying to reduce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-bunuel/fortunately-somewhere-between-chance-and-mystery-lies-imagination-the/) [Luis Bunuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-bunuel/) > [Imagination? It is the one thing beside honesty that a good writer must have. The more he learns from experience the more he can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/imagination-it-is-the-one-thing-beside-honesty-that-a-good-writer/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [To treat your facts with imagination is one thing, to imagine your facts is another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/to-treat-your-facts-with-imagination-is-one-thing-to-imagine-your/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [...one may say anything about the history of the world - anything that might enter the most disordered imagination. The only thing one can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/one-may-say-anything-about-the-history-of-the-world-anything-that/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [I'm not good at standing on platforms and persuading people to my political point of view. Nor would I seek to. My gift is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-m-not-good-at-standing-on-platforms-and-persuading-people-to-my/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. What at this time was called minor art was freer, more imaginative, more open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-found-so-called-great-art-too-pompous-too-stiff-what-at-this-time/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [Acting is an imaginative leap, really, isn't it? And imaginations prosper in different circumstances. And it's being able - I can't tell you how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/acting-is-an-imaginative-leap-really-isn-t-it-and-imaginations/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I definitely go through periods where I'm in a particular mood, or there's a consistent imaginative context that I feel I'm in, and I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/i-definitely-go-through-periods-where-i-m-in-a-particular-mood-or/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [Individually, museums are fine institutions, dedicated to the high values of preservation, education and truth; collectively, their growth in numbers points to the imaginative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hewison/individually-museums-are-fine-institutions-dedicated-to-the-high/) [Robert Hewison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hewison/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. 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The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. 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