--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we consider real is also imagined…" description: "\"“What we consider real is also imagined; every life lived is also an inner life, a life created.”\" — Margaret Atwood" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/margaret-atwood-40_inner-life_what-we-consider-real-is-also-imagined-e_2020683.jpg" --- # What we consider real is also imagined; every life lived… ![“What we consider real is also imagined; every life lived is also an inner life, a life created.” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/margaret-atwood-40_inner-life_what-we-consider-real-is-also-imagined-e_2020683.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/margaret-atwood-40_inner-life_what-we-consider-real-is-also-imagined-e_2020683.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/margaret-atwood-40_inner-life_what-we-consider-real-is-also-imagined-e_2020683.jpg) > ““What we consider real is also imagined; every life lived is also an inner life, a life created.”” [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reality is a blend of perception and imagination; each life contains both external events and an inner narrative we construct. **In simple terms:** Reality mixes perception and imagination. Key Takeaway Recognize and nurture inner life. Themes reality imagination inner life creation perception Mood thoughtful inspirational contemplative Type philosophical literary motivational When to use this quote - writing - mindfulness practice - psychotherapy - education Key Concepts constructivism subjective experience creative consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance inner imagination with external reality? - What role does storytelling play in shaping life? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on imagination can detach from objective facts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined/) [Imagined Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-life-355117/) [Inner life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Created](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-created-372018/) [Real Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-imagined-428299/) ## Related quotes > [“We dream and fight with demons real and imagined.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/we-dream-and-fight-with-demons-real-and-imagined/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Your mind does not inherently know what is real and what is imagined — it only responds to the stories you tell it. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-sekulova-affirmations-a-guide-to-manifest-better-life/your-mind-does-not-inherently-know-what-is-real-and-what-is-imagined/) [Margarita Sekulova, Affirmations: A Guide to Manifest Better Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-sekulova-affirmations-a-guide-to-manifest-better-life/) > [“Real, she imagined later on, was something else; it had nothing to do with things you could touch. Real was being seen, noticed, acknowledged,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-sharon-schwartz/real-she-imagined-later-on-was-something-else-it-had-nothing-to-do/) [Lynne Sharon Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-sharon-schwartz/) > [I would have been very happy just working from job to job, paying my rent one movie at a time. I never wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-stewart/i-would-have-been-very-happy-just-working-from-job-to-job-paying-my/) [Kristen Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-stewart/) > [I imagined a life that turned out to be pretty much exactly like the one I've had. That fascinates me endlessly. I wake up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/i-imagined-a-life-that-turned-out-to-be-pretty-much-exactly-like-the/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Samantha imagined that in another life, she and Alison could have, indeed, been friends. 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It got until she didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/still-the-better-she-could-draw-the-worse-her-life-got-until-nothing/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [The Subconscious mind can not tell the difference between what's real and what's imagined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/the-subconscious-mind-can-not-tell-the-difference-between-what-s-real/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [“My way of life is to dare to imagine the truest, most beautiful life, family and world - and to then conjure up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glennon-doyle/my-way-of-life-is-to-dare-to-imagine-the-truest-most-beautiful-life/) [Glennon Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glennon-doyle/) > [Ideas emerge when a part of the real or imagined world is studied for its own sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/ideas-emerge-when-a-part-of-the-real-or-imagined-world-is-studied-for/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [“Do you remember when I told you that I sometimes believe that you’re not real? That I imagined you just to hurt myself?” Reed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-a-bartal-intuition/do-you-remember-when-i-told-you-that-i-sometimes-believe-that-you-re-2/) [Amy A. Bartal intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-a-bartal-intuition/) > [“It was more real than anything she’d ever imagined, and she clung to that in the same way that the sky clung to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shona-moyce/it-was-more-real-than-anything-she-d-ever-imagined-and-she-clung-to/) [Shona Moyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shona-moyce/) > [“When I thought of myself, of the feelings I had, of the things I thought I understood so well, I imagined myself somehow abstractly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaito-gazdanov/when-i-thought-of-myself-of-the-feelings-i-had-of-the-things-i/) [Gaito Gazdanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaito-gazdanov/) ## More by Margaret Atwood > [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. 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I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. 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She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More Imagined quotes > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. 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