--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We can only know what we can truly…" description: "\"We can only know what we can truly imagine. Finally what we see comes from ourselves.\" — Marge Piercy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01c/marge-piercy-2610_imagination_we-can-only-know-what-we-can-truly-imagi_1388575.png" --- # We can only know what we can truly imagine. Finally what… ![“We can only know what we can truly imagine. Finally what we see comes from ourselves.” quote by Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01c/marge-piercy-2610_imagination_we-can-only-know-what-we-can-truly-imagi_1388575.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01c/marge-piercy-2610_imagination_we-can-only-know-what-we-can-truly-imagi_1388575.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01c/marge-piercy-2610_imagination_we-can-only-know-what-we-can-truly-imagi_1388575.png) > “We can only know what we can truly imagine. Finally what we see comes from ourselves.” [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagination expands our perception, and our inner vision shapes the reality we experience. **In simple terms:** Imagine to see beyond current limits. Key Takeaway Cultivate imagination to broaden understanding. Themes creativity perception self-awareness Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - artistic creation - problem solving - personal growth Key Concepts imagination subjective reality psychology Questions to Reflect On - What limits your imagination? - How does imagination affect your decisions? A Different Perspective Imagination alone may not change external constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Utopia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopia/) ## Related quotes > [“That no man can truly imagine being happy and that's why happiness isn't for sale here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/that-no-man-can-truly-imagine-being-happy-and-that-s-why-happiness/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I cannot truly imagine a truly great person who hasn't suffered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-cannot-truly-imagine-a-truly-great-person-who-hasn-t-suffered/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“you judge me for what you see and if you know me I truly dont know you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savage/you-judge-me-for-what-you-see-and-if-you-know-me-i-truly-dont-know-you/) [Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/savage/) > [When we come to know who we truly are, we will see ourselves in all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/when-we-come-to-know-who-we-truly-are-we-will-see-ourselves-in-all/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [I know that truly nothing is for sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madi-diaz/i-know-that-truly-nothing-is-for-sure/) [Madi Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madi-diaz/) > [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/) [Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/) > [Be careful not to give so much of yourself to others that you end up completely losing yourself. In the end you will know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/be-careful-not-to-give-so-much-of-yourself-to-others-that-you-end-up/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [It's impossible to know what someone truly feel about You, only You know what you truly feel about someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-impossible-to-know-what-someone-truly-feel-about-you-only-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I know that if I ever become truly alive, truly spiritual, truly one with God, the CIA will kill me...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-that-if-i-ever-become-truly-alive-truly-spiritual-truly-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People who want to help you may end up destroying your talents if they don't know who you truly are, on the inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/people-who-want-to-help-you-may-end-up-destroying-your-talents-if/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [“There is such a thirst to be known, isn't there? What is it about being known that would cause us to hunger so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/there-is-such-a-thirst-to-be-known-isn-t-there-what-is-it-about-being/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [“Want to know where you truly stand with someone? Follow their time and see how much you are already there”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-henegan/want-to-know-where-you-truly-stand-with-someone-follow-their-time-and/) [Carl Henegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-henegan/) > [“Disregard for the past will never do us any good. Without it we cannot know truly who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-moore/disregard-for-the-past-will-never-do-us-any-good-without-it-we-cannot/) Syd Moore > [ “There are enough hours in a day to know that you are truly loved." ~R. Alan Woods \[2013\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-alan-woods/there-are-enough-hours-in-a-day-to-know-that-you-are-truly-loved-r/) [R. Alan Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-alan-woods/) > [All I know is that I truly I love you. If you think that's wrong, then I don't know what is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/na/all-i-know-is-that-i-truly-i-love-you-if-you-think-that-s-wrong-then/) NA ## More by Marge Piercy > [Shared laughter is erotic too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/shared-laughter-is-erotic-too/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/work-is-its-own-cure-you-have-to-like-it-better-than-being-loved/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [The anger of the weak never goes away, Professor, it just gets a little moldy. It molds like a beautiful blue cheese in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/the-anger-of-the-weak-never-goes-away-professor-it-just-gets-a-little/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [“The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows and swim off with sure strokes almost out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/the-people-i-love-the-best-jump-into-work-head-first-without-dallying/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Every poet has a certain amount of "stuff." That's what you draw from for imagery. The more stuff you know well, not simply intellectually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/every-poet-has-a-certain-amount-of-stuff-that-s-what-you-draw-from/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [the body is simple as a turtle / and straight as a dog: / the body cannot lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/the-body-is-simple-as-a-turtle-and-straight-as-a-dog-the-body-cannot/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [We must shine with hope, stained glass windows that shape light into icons, glow like lanterns borne before a procession. Who can bear hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/we-must-shine-with-hope-stained-glass-windows-that-shape-light-into/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Remember that every son had a mother whose beloved son he was, and every woman had a mother whose beloved son she wasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/remember-that-every-son-had-a-mother-whose-beloved-son-he-was-and/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [We live in a media soup and are constantly being programmed or are fighting that programming. Thus any truthful account of a life, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/we-live-in-a-media-soup-and-are-constantly-being-programmed-or-are/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [The moon is always female and so am I although often in the vale of razorblades I have wished I could put on and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/the-moon-is-always-female-and-so-am-i-although-often-in-the-vale-of/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Sometimes when a character in a novel is difficult for me to enter, I sue something in myself or in my own life as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/sometimes-when-a-character-in-a-novel-is-difficult-for-me-to-enter-i/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Doorways are sacred to women for we are the doorways of life and we must choose what comes in and what goes out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/doorways-are-sacred-to-women-for-we-are-the-doorways-of-life-and-we/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [“Writing sometimes feels frivolous and sometimes sacred, but memory is one of my strongest muses. I serve her with my words. So long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/writing-sometimes-feels-frivolous-and-sometimes-sacred-but-memory-is/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [The work of the world is common as mud. Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust. But the thing worth doing well done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/the-work-of-the-world-is-common-as-mud-botched-it-smears-the-hands/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [We're herded into schools and terrified into behaving. Taught how we're supposed to pretend to be, taught to parrot all kinds of nonsense at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/we-re-herded-into-schools-and-terrified-into-behaving-taught-how-we/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) [Explore all 158 Marge Piercy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can only know what we can truly imagine. 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