--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The facts, even the real ones, must be…" description: "\"The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.\" — Mason Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png" --- # The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before… ![“The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png) > “The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.” [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. Understanding requires first picturing reality in the mind before expressing it in words. **In simple terms:** You must picture facts before you can talk about them. Key Takeaway Visualize ideas before speaking. Themes cognition communication perception Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - teaching - problem solving Key Concepts mental imagery language formation Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure your mental picture matches reality? - What steps help translate imagination into accurate statements? A Different Perspective Imagining may bias perception, leading to misrepresentation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Facts Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts-real-2558540/) [Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined/) [Imagined Stated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-stated-2558541/) [Ones Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ones-imagined-1194625/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-ones/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Stated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stated/) ## Related quotes > [“...And yet a knowledge is here that tenses the throat as for song: the inheritance of the ones, alive or once alive, who stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/and-yet-a-knowledge-is-here-that-tenses-the-throat-as-for-song-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Never pretend always Recommend the facts of the real amongst the fake peoples…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenchqueen/never-pretend-always-recommend-the-facts-of-the-real-amongst-the-fake/) [Frenchqueen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenchqueen/) > [You can spend your whole life building a wall of facts between you and anything real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/you-can-spend-your-whole-life-building-a-wall-of-facts-between-you/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Architecture depends on facts, but its real field of activity lies in the realm of the significance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/architecture-depends-on-facts-but-its-real-field-of-activity-lies-in/) [Ludwig Mies van der Rohe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/) > [Stated clearly enough, an idea may cancel itself out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/stated-clearly-enough-an-idea-may-cancel-itself-out/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Understanding replaces imaginary fears with real ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/understanding-replaces-imaginary-fears-with-real-ones/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-haven-putnam/your-purpose-then-plainly-stated-is-that-you-will-destroy-the/) [George Haven Putnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-haven-putnam/) > [Everyone is an idiot," I stated. 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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 Facts quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [He bombarded me with words, of all things, apparently clueless to the fact that the predawn hours rendered me incapable of coherent thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/he-bombarded-me-with-words-of-all-things-apparently-clueless-to-the/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [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/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [Because the truth is that gossip is as good as gospel in this town. You can save face but you won't ever save your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/because-the-truth-is-that-gossip-is-as-good-as-gospel-in-this-town/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [We did an episode where she goes out to get a job and she gets fired because she's not good. They hire a babysitter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-heaton/we-did-an-episode-where-she-goes-out-to-get-a-job-and-she-gets-fired/) [Patricia Heaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-heaton/) > [Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste. The biologist passes, the frog remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/le-biologiste-passe-la-grenouille-reste-the-biologist-passes-the-frog/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) [Browse all 19,906 Facts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mason Cooley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-imagined-before-they-can-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Facts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-imagined-before-they-can-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/mason-cooley-92_facts_the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-ima_1868059.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The facts, even the real ones, must be imagined before they can be stated.” — 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": "The facts, even the real ones,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-imagined-before-they-can-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-facts-even-the-real-ones-must-be-imagined-before-they-can-be/#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 } } ] } ```