---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite…"
description: "\"Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.\" — Mason Cooley"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png"
---

#  Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.

![“Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png)

> “Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.”

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Sex is partly imagined and partly real, existing in a liminal space.

**In simple terms:** Sex blends fantasy and reality.

Key Takeaway

Acknowledge both aspects.

Themes

relationships perception reality

Mood

contemplative thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- intimate relationships
- media portrayal
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

psychology social constructs

Questions to Reflect On

- How does imagination shape sexual experience?
- What aspects of sex feel most real?

A Different Perspective

May oversimplify complex sexual experiences.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/)

## Related quotes

> [“See, now I don't know whether to be all 'Yay!' because you're empowered or sad because you're having delusional almost-sex with an imaginary boyfriend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/see-now-i-don-t-know-whether-to-be-all-yay-because-you-re-empowered/)

[Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/)

> [My characters are quite as real to me as so-called real people; which is one reason why I'm not subject to what is known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/my-characters-are-quite-as-real-to-me-as-so-called-real-people-which/)

[William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/)

> [Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/positano-bites-deep-it-is-a-dream-place-that-isn-t-quite-real-when/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [“Perhaps in body I am not quite as real as you,” he said, then looked alive, making him once again seem real, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzannah-daniels/perhaps-in-body-i-am-not-quite-as-real-as-you-he-said-then-looked/)

[Suzannah Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzannah-daniels/)

> [Every life has a love story, even though the beloved may be imaginary, or a cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/every-life-has-a-love-story-even-though-the-beloved-may-be-imaginary/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [“I’ve never been with a boy who hasn’t seen me naked. It’s always the squeaky futon, bear-it-all, turn-off-the-lights quickstep. Don’t chalk it up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-rhodes/i-ve-never-been-with-a-boy-who-hasn-t-seen-me-naked-it-s-always-the/)

[Taylor Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-rhodes/)

> [“I’m not going to deny that I want to fuck you. I can’t promise a future or that I’ll be some sniveling boyfriend who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-l-hess/i-m-not-going-to-deny-that-i-want-to-fuck-you-i-can-t-promise-a/)

[D.L. Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-l-hess/)

> [We are on a sexual binge in this country. ... One consequence of this binge is that while people now get into bed more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shana-alexander/we-are-on-a-sexual-binge-in-this-country-one-consequence-of-this/)

[Shana Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shana-alexander/)

> [“Sex is one of those things that's complete loss of control. You give yourself up, in your most vulnerable state, to another person, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-m-cameron/sex-is-one-of-those-things-that-s-complete-loss-of-control-you-give/)

[Chelsea M. Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-m-cameron/)

> [Raves when it was safe to be free &amp; wave your hands in the air, like you didn't even care! Not scared to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/progrezza/raves-when-it-was-safe-to-be-free-wave-your-hands-in-the-air-like-you/)

[Progrezza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/progrezza/)

> [we are beginning to understand that this instinct of sex which has been so great a cause of suffering and shame and has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maude-royden/we-are-beginning-to-understand-that-this-instinct-of-sex-which-has/)

[Maude Royden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maude-royden/)

> [Killing became the same thing as having sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-lee-lucas/killing-became-the-same-thing-as-having-sex/)

Henry Lee Lucas

> [Sexual activity, and the thoughts and fantasies of sex, use up a great portion of our vital force. When that force is conserved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/sexual-activity-and-the-thoughts-and-fantasies-of-sex-use-up-a-great/)

[Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/)

> [“i don't know the ethics, but some times sex is at highest priority in a relationship.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-yadav/i-don-t-know-the-ethics-but-some-times-sex-is-at-highest-priority-in/)

[Nikhil Yadav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-yadav/)

> [Doctrine tied itself into infinite knots over the realities of sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/doctrine-tied-itself-into-infinite-knots-over-the-realities-of-sex/)

[Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/)

## More by Mason Cooley

> [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Money comes to life as it is spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/money-comes-to-life-as-it-is-spent/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/experience-teaches-us-but-we-scarcely-know-what/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [The body has a mind of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-body-has-a-mind-of-its-own/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/in-retirement-i-look-for-days-off-from-my-days-off-mason-cooley/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [My intentions go one way, my desires another. Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

[Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

## More Imaginary quotes

> [I realized I couldn't be a journalist because I like to take a side, to have an opinion and a point a view; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/i-realized-i-couldn-t-be-a-journalist-because-i-like-to-take-a-side/)

[Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/)

> [“this route is only one of several imaginary paths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/this-route-is-only-one-of-several-imaginary-paths/)

[Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/)

> [The hardest thing about being a guy is that women don't accept that you really are just a simple, pathetic, labrador retriever-like creature. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-hardest-thing-about-being-a-guy-is-that-women-don-t-accept-that/)

[Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/)

> [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/)

[Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/)

> [I was a loner as a child. I had an imaginary friend - I didn't bother with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-was-a-loner-as-a-child-i-had-an-imaginary-friend-i-didn-t-bother/)

[George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/)

> [What the nostalgic past and the imaginary future seem to share in common is a form of idealism, perhaps a dream of wholeness. Our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/what-the-nostalgic-past-and-the-imaginary-future-seem-to-share-in/)

[Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/)

> [The more science I studied, the more I saw that physics becomes metaphysics and numbers become imaginary numbers. The farther you go into science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/the-more-science-i-studied-the-more-i-saw-that-physics-becomes/)

[Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/)

> [Dont let the imaginary person in your head keep you from loving the real one right in front of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dev/dont-let-the-imaginary-person-in-your-head-keep-you-from-loving-the/)

[Dev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dev/)

> [The point I wish plainly to bring before you on this occasion is the individuality of each human soul--our Protestant idea, the right of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-point-i-wish-plainly-to-bring-before-you-on-this-occasion-is-the/)

[Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/)

> [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/)

[Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/)

> [Imaginary evils are incurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/imaginary-evils-are-incurable/)

[Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/)

> [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. The characters arrive first. They help me figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-i-start-writing-a-new-imaginary-future-i-have-no-idea-what-it-is/)

[William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/)

> [Life is complex. It has real and imaginary components.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-potter/life-is-complex-it-has-real-and-imaginary-components/)

Tom Potter

> [Why all these signs around us that make me doubt language and submerge me in meanings, drowning reality instead of extracting it from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/why-all-these-signs-around-us-that-make-me-doubt-language-and/)

[Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/)

> [“No knowledge comes from the outside world or an imaginary supernatural paradise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/no-knowledge-comes-from-the-outside-world-or-an-imaginary/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

Browse all 902 Imaginary quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mason Cooley"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite-real-either/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Imaginary"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite-real-either/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cd/mason-cooley-92_imaginary_sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite_2872640.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.” — Mason Cooley",
                "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": "Mason Cooley",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Sex is not imaginary, but it...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite-real-either/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/sex-is-not-imaginary-but-it-is-not-quite-real-either/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
