--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's how a thing starts out real then…" description: "\"That's how a thing starts out real then ends up just an idea.\" — Joyce Carol Oates" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png" --- # That's how a thing starts out real then ends up just an… ![“That's how a thing starts out real then ends up just an idea.” quote by Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png) > “That's how a thing starts out real then ends up just an idea.” [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ideas often begin as concrete concepts but can dissolve into mere thoughts if not nurtured. **In simple terms:** Ideas can fade without action. Key Takeaway Nurture ideas into reality. Themes creativity potential execution Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - project planning - writing - entrepreneurship - artistic creation - personal goals Key Concepts concept development focus Questions to Reflect On - What steps will you take to develop this idea? - How can you protect it from fading? A Different Perspective Without commitment, ideas remain unrealized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) ## Related quotes > [I like fictional stories - like, things that never happened but the seed of it starts as real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-m-johnson/i-like-fictional-stories-like-things-that-never-happened-but-the-seed/) [Jake M. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-m-johnson/) > [“At least you're taking action. Every big thing starts small.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/at-least-you-re-taking-action-every-big-thing-starts-small/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [Every bad thing starts from creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-shanzhuan/every-bad-thing-starts-from-creation/) Wu Shanzhuan > [Every great thing starts out a little scary, doesnt it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/every-great-thing-starts-out-a-little-scary-doesnt-it/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Everything begins and Ends.. Sometimes we just have to accept the facts that its the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-begins-and-ends-sometimes-we-just-have-to-accept-the-facts/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A journey that never ends is always just beginning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-edward-lee-miller/a-journey-that-never-ends-is-always-just-beginning/) [Cody Edward Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-edward-lee-miller/) > [Everything ends; you just have to figure out a way to push to the finish line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-itzler/everything-ends-you-just-have-to-figure-out-a-way-to-push-to-the/) [Jesse Itzler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-itzler/) > [There are no dead ends, just detours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-no-dead-ends-just-detours/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jazz never ends... it just continues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonny-rollins/jazz-never-ends-it-just-continues/) [Sonny Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonny-rollins/) > [When work ends, I'd rather just be seen as Daniel - normal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kaluuya/when-work-ends-i-d-rather-just-be-seen-as-daniel-normal/) [Daniel Kaluuya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kaluuya/) > [Do you know what happens after you lose the Super Bowl? The world ends. It just stops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-kapp/do-you-know-what-happens-after-you-lose-the-super-bowl-the-world-ends/) Joe Kapp > [“Nothing ever ends... Just three words long”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/nothing-ever-ends-just-three-words-long/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [I didn't just get an idea. I got a great idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/i-didn-t-just-get-an-idea-i-got-a-great-idea/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [Let's not talk about Communism. Communism was just an idea, just pie in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-yeltsin/let-s-not-talk-about-communism-communism-was-just-an-idea-just-pie-in/) [Boris Yeltsin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-yeltsin/) > [I have always wanted to act ever since I was a small child. But at that time, it was just an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uday-chopra/i-have-always-wanted-to-act-ever-since-i-was-a-small-child-but-at/) [Uday Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uday-chopra/) ## More by Joyce Carol Oates > [“A woman who has lost her husband is invalid, thus an invalid. In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-woman-who-has-lost-her-husband-is-invalid-thus-an-invalid-in/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/running-if-there-s-any-activity-happier-more-exhilarating-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-need-so-much-energy-and-encouragement-to-write-that-if-someone/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-learned-long-ago-that-being-lewis-carroll-was-infinitely-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [At all crucial moments in our lives we want to speak without knowing what to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/at-all-crucial-moments-in-our-lives-we-want-to-speak-without-knowing/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [A writer’s life is in his work, and that is the place to find him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-writer-s-life-is-in-his-work-and-that-is-the-place-to-find-him/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The challenge is to resist circumstances. Any idiot can be happy in a happy place, but moral courage is required to be happy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-challenge-is-to-resist-circumstances-any-idiot-can-be-happy-in-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-first-sentence-cant-be-written-until-the-final-sentence-is-written/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Did you know, Marianne: how by breaking the code that day, you broke it forever? For us all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/did-you-know-marianne-how-by-breaking-the-code-that-day-you-broke-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > ['The Accursed' is very much a novel about social injustice as the consequence of the terrible, tragic division of classes - the exploitation not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-accursed-is-very-much-a-novel-about-social-injustice-as-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keep-a-light-hopeful-heart-but-expect-the-worst/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unspeakable-taboo-that-evil-is/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I don't think that writer's block exists really. I think that when you're trying to do something prematurely, it just won't come. Certain subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-think-that-writer-s-block-exists-really-i-think-that-when-you/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [... such speculation is like staring into the hot white sun. you know the sun is there but you can't see a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/such-speculation-is-like-staring-into-the-hot-white-sun-you-know-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Explore all 658 Joyce Carol Oates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## More Ends quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [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/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [it is the brevity of life which makes it tolerable; its experiences have value because they have an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/it-is-the-brevity-of-life-which-makes-it-tolerable-its-experiences/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/believe-to-the-end-even-if-all-men-went-astray-and-you-were-left-the/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) Browse all 20,790 Ends quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That's how a thing starts out real then ends up just an idea.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joyce Carol Oates" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then-ends-up-just-an-idea/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ends" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then-ends-up-just-an-idea/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/596/joyce-carol-oates-344_ends_that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then_309104.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That's how a thing starts out real then ends up just an idea.” — Joyce Carol Oates", "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": "Joyce Carol Oates", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That's how a thing starts out...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then-ends-up-just-an-idea/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/that-s-how-a-thing-starts-out-real-then-ends-up-just-an-idea/#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 } } ] } ```