--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is often simply from lack of creative…" description: "\"“It is often simply from lack of creative imagination that we do not go far enough in suffering.”\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg" --- # It is often simply from lack of creative imagination that… ![“It is often simply from lack of creative imagination that we do not go far enough in suffering.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg) > ““It is often simply from lack of creative imagination that we do not go far enough in suffering.”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often limit our endurance because we cannot envision possibilities beyond our current pain. **In simple terms:** Lack of imagination restricts how far we suffer. Key Takeaway Expand imagination to endure more. Themes suffering imagination limits Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - grief counseling - creative therapy - overcoming adversity Key Concepts Existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Can you imagine a different response to pain? - What would happen if you saw suffering as a teacher? A Different Perspective Imagination alone may not change external circumstances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creative imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-imagination/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [There's no lack of talent out there. I suspect there is a lack of creative guidance, and that would not be solely the responsibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-prince/there-s-no-lack-of-talent-out-there-i-suspect-there-is-a-lack-of/) [Harold Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-prince/) > [Without ... the creative imagination rushing in where bureaucratic angels fear to tread - without this, life is a mockery and a disgrace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/without-the-creative-imagination-rushing-in-where-bureaucratic-angels/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [There would be far less suffering in the world if human beings-God knows why they are made like this-did not use their imaginations so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-would-be-far-less-suffering-in-the-world-if-human-beings-god/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [How far must suffering and misery go before we see that even in the day of vast cities and powerful machines, the good earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sears/how-far-must-suffering-and-misery-go-before-we-see-that-even-in-the/) Paul Sears > [No doubt you are right... there would be far less suffering amongst mankind if men... did not employ their imaginations so assiduously in recalling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/no-doubt-you-are-right-there-would-be-far-less-suffering-amongst/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Vielleicht, daß ich durch schwere Berge gehe in harten Adern, wie ein Erz allein; und bin so tief, daß ich kein Ende sehe und…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/vielleicht-da-ich-durch-schwere-berge-gehe-in-harten-adern-wie-ein/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Most men, whether men or women, wish above all else to be comfortable, and thought is a pre-eminently uncomfortable process; it brings to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-brittain/most-men-whether-men-or-women-wish-above-all-else-to-be-comfortable/) [Vera Brittain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-brittain/) > [Peter Cooper looks at the world with an artist's eye and a human heart and soul. His songs are the work of an original,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kristofferson/peter-cooper-looks-at-the-world-with-an-artist-s-eye-and-a-human/) [Kris Kristofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kristofferson/) > [Reading has been the fuel of my motivation: it has changed the direction in which I have traveled, and it has enhanced my creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/reading-has-been-the-fuel-of-my-motivation-it-has-changed-the/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [Held in the palms of thousands of disgruntled people over the centuries have been ideas worth millions - if they only had taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hayes/held-in-the-palms-of-thousands-of-disgruntled-people-over-the/) Robert M. Hayes > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“The dragonfly and damselfly reflect and work with the sun and light. The light changes throughout the day. The dragonfly and damselfly undergo their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-andrews/the-dragonfly-and-damselfly-reflect-and-work-with-the-sun-and-light/) [Ted Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-andrews/) > [The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership… a leadership of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/the-age-of-warrior-kings-and-of-warrior-presidents-has-passed-the/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [“The abilities distinctive of human beings are abilities of intellect and will. The relevant abilities of intellect are thought, imagination (the cogitative and creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-m-s-hacker/the-abilities-distinctive-of-human-beings-are-abilities-of-intellect/) P. M. S. Hacker > [Soul, a particle of God, is blessed with the gift of creative imagination, which finds a solution for every problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-klemp/soul-a-particle-of-god-is-blessed-with-the-gift-of-creative/) [Harold Klemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-klemp/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Creative imagination quotes > [Peter Cooper looks at the world with an artist's eye and a human heart and soul. His songs are the work of an original,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kristofferson/peter-cooper-looks-at-the-world-with-an-artist-s-eye-and-a-human/) [Kris Kristofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kristofferson/) > [Held in the palms of thousands of disgruntled people over the centuries have been ideas worth millions - if they only had taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hayes/held-in-the-palms-of-thousands-of-disgruntled-people-over-the/) Robert M. Hayes > [Without ... the creative imagination rushing in where bureaucratic angels fear to tread - without this, life is a mockery and a disgrace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/without-the-creative-imagination-rushing-in-where-bureaucratic-angels/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [“The abilities distinctive of human beings are abilities of intellect and will. The relevant abilities of intellect are thought, imagination (the cogitative and creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-m-s-hacker/the-abilities-distinctive-of-human-beings-are-abilities-of-intellect/) P. M. S. Hacker > [Reading has been the fuel of my motivation: it has changed the direction in which I have traveled, and it has enhanced my creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/reading-has-been-the-fuel-of-my-motivation-it-has-changed-the/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership… a leadership of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/the-age-of-warrior-kings-and-of-warrior-presidents-has-passed-the/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Soul, a particle of God, is blessed with the gift of creative imagination, which finds a solution for every problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-klemp/soul-a-particle-of-god-is-blessed-with-the-gift-of-creative/) [Harold Klemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-klemp/) > [“The dragonfly and damselfly reflect and work with the sun and light. The light changes throughout the day. The dragonfly and damselfly undergo their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-andrews/the-dragonfly-and-damselfly-reflect-and-work-with-the-sun-and-light/) [Ted Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-andrews/) > [Look at life through the wrong end of the telescope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/look-at-life-through-the-wrong-end-of-the-telescope/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [“Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can be elegant and very beautiful but it can never be sculpture. Captive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/nonfiction-at-its-best-is-like-fashioning-a-cabinet-it-can-be-elegant/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“But as he stands before imminent death, he grasps its nature also, and the cosmic import of the step to come. His creative imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-wessel-zapffe/but-as-he-stands-before-imminent-death-he-grasps-its-nature-also-and/) [Peter Wessel Zapffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-wessel-zapffe/) > [“For a century and a half, people have wondered what factors - genetic and environmental - were especially significant in the evolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-thorm-hlen/for-a-century-and-a-half-people-have-wondered-what-factors-genetic/) [Marianne Thormählen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-thorm-hlen/) > [Prayer is the highest form, the supreme act of the Creative Imagination. ... For prayer is not a request for something: it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-corbin/prayer-is-the-highest-form-the-supreme-act-of-the-creative/) [Henry Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-corbin/) > [Like every novelist, I fantasise about film. Novelists are not equipped to make a movie, in my opinion. They make their own movie when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/like-every-novelist-i-fantasise-about-film-novelists-are-not-equipped/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [Dreams are more powerful than facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/dreams-are-more-powerful-than-facts/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) [Browse all 72 Creative imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is often simply from lack of creative imagination that we do not go far enough in suffering.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative-imagination-that-we-do-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creative imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative-imagination-that-we-do-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/588/marcel-proust-114_creative-imagination_it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative_1378069.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is often simply from lack of creative imagination that we do not go far enough in suffering.” — Marcel Proust", "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": "Marcel Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is often simply from lack...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative-imagination-that-we-do-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-is-often-simply-from-lack-of-creative-imagination-that-we-do-not/#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 } } ] } ```