---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The power of an imagination can arise…"
description: "\"“The power of an imagination can arise from what it refuses to foresee.”\" — Michael Lewis"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png"
---

#  The power of an imagination can arise from what it refuses…

![“The power of an imagination can arise from what it refuses to foresee.” quote by Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png)

> ““The power of an imagination can arise from what it refuses to foresee.””

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

## About This Quote

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

Imagination thrives when it rejects what it cannot anticipate, pushing creative boundaries.

**In simple terms:** Imagination grows by ignoring the unknown.

Key Takeaway

Embrace uncertainty to fuel creativity.

Themes

creativity imagination uncertainty risk growth

Mood

inspirational thought‑provoking

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- product design
- strategic planning
- artistic creation

Key Concepts

innovation vision possibility

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we train ourselves to ignore fear?
- What practices expand imaginative capacity?

A Different Perspective

Fear of the unknown can limit imagination.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/)

## Related quotes

> [Yet mystery and imagination arise from the same source. This source is called darkness ... Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/yet-mystery-and-imagination-arise-from-the-same-source-this-source-is/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [“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/)

> [“Knowledge is borrowed. Imagination is original. It is the power of imagination that makes us different from our animal ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banani-ray/knowledge-is-borrowed-imagination-is-original-it-is-the-power-of/)

[Banani Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banani-ray/)

> [“You must know where you're and see what's ahead of you, by doing that you'll be able to achieve your dreams and goals. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/you-must-know-where-you-re-and-see-what-s-ahead-of-you-by-doing-that/)

[Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/)

> [It is the power of memory that gives rise to the power of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-kurosawa/it-is-the-power-of-memory-that-gives-rise-to-the-power-of-imagination/)

[Akira Kurosawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-kurosawa/)

> [“At times I felt that the universe fabricated from the power of imagination had stronger and more lasting contours than the blurred realm of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/at-times-i-felt-that-the-universe-fabricated-from-the-power-of/)

[Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/)

> [“We can make our own normal. We can throw out all the rules and write our own. We can build our lives from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glennon-doyle/we-can-make-our-own-normal-we-can-throw-out-all-the-rules-and-write/)

[Glennon Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glennon-doyle/)

> [It is probable that the principal credit of miracles, visions, enchantments, and such extraordinary occurrences comes from the power of imagination, acting principally upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-probable-that-the-principal-credit-of-miracles-visions/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [Want of imagination makes things unreal enough to be destroyed. By imagination I mean knowledge and love. I mean compassion. People of power kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/want-of-imagination-makes-things-unreal-enough-to-be-destroyed-by/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [Now the power of the imagination is a unifying power, hence the force of metaphor; and the poet is the supreme manipulator of metaphor...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-s-thomas/now-the-power-of-the-imagination-is-a-unifying-power-hence-the-force/)

[R. S. Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-s-thomas/)

> [“Real Power: Imagination combined with intellect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-alvi/real-power-imagination-combined-with-intellect/)

[Kamil Alvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-alvi/)

> [I think really what unites psychedelic people is the faith in the power of the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-think-really-what-unites-psychedelic-people-is-the-faith-in-the/)

[Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/)

> [Both reading and writing are experiences--lifelong-- in the course of which we who encounter words used in certain ways are persuaded by them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/both-reading-and-writing-are-experiences-lifelong-in-the-course-of/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [This, in fact, is the power of the imagination, which, combining the memory of gold with that of the mountain, can compose the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/this-in-fact-is-the-power-of-the-imagination-which-combining-the/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [“The most important factor in every function is: ‘Is it under our control or not?’ So when imagination is under our control we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-ouspensky/the-most-important-factor-in-every-function-is-is-it-under-our/)

[P.D. Ouspensky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-ouspensky/)

## More by Michael Lewis

> [“Crucial decisions are made, today as thousands of years ago, in terms of the intuitive guesses and preferences of a few men in positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/crucial-decisions-are-made-today-as-thousands-of-years-ago-in-terms/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“You saw someone who reminded you of you, and then you looked for the reasons why you liked him. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/you-saw-someone-who-reminded-you-of-you-and-then-you-looked-for-the/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“At other places management says, ‘Well, gee, fellas, do we really want to bet the ranch on this deal?’ Lewie was not only willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/at-other-places-management-says-well-gee-fellas-do-we-really-want-to/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“BILLY WOULD SAY later that his wife left him because she was unnerved by his intensity—that she could even see it in his hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/billy-would-say-later-that-his-wife-left-him-because-she-was-unnerved/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The great thing about baseball players, from the point of view of personal hygiene, is how seldom they break a sweat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-great-thing-about-baseball-players-from-the-point-of-view-of/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [There was but one question he left unasked, and it vibrated between his lines: if gross miscalculations of a person's value could occur on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/there-was-but-one-question-he-left-unasked-and-it-vibrated-between/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The author refers to a player's affected nonchalance and comments he is, "too young to realize you are what you pretend to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-author-refers-to-a-player-s-affected-nonchalance-and-comments-he/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [A banking system is an act of faith: it survives only for as long as people believe it will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/a-banking-system-is-an-act-of-faith-it-survives-only-for-as-long-as/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [Some coaches believed they could judge a player's performance simply by watching it. In this they were deeply mistaken. The naked eye was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/some-coaches-believed-they-could-judge-a-player-s-performance-simply/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“No longer were the prices of ordinary mortgage bonds allowed to roam inefficiently, for they were now linked to the CMO market, in much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/no-longer-were-the-prices-of-ordinary-mortgage-bonds-allowed-to-roam/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The difference between Strauss and Ranieri?” says one trader still at Salomon. “That’s easy. Strauss wouldn’t stoop to use the men’s room on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-difference-between-strauss-and-ranieri-says-one-trader-still-at/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The only inexplicable aspect of the process was that economic theory (which is, after all, what economics students were supposed to know) served almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-only-inexplicable-aspect-of-the-process-was-that-economic-theory/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“It's not easy to stand apart from mass hysteria - to believe that most of what's in the financial news is wrong, to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/it-s-not-easy-to-stand-apart-from-mass-hysteria-to-believe-that-most/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“Dont worry about where i am , i'll let you know when i get there .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/dont-worry-about-where-i-am-i-ll-let-you-know-when-i-get-there/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“Someone out there was using the fact that stock market orders arrived at different times at different exchanges to front-run orders from one market…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/someone-out-there-was-using-the-fact-that-stock-market-orders-arrived/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

[Explore all 398 Michael Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

## 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": "“The power of an imagination can arise from what it refuses to foresee.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Michael Lewis"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-from-what-it-refuses-to-foresee/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Imagination"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-from-what-it-refuses-to-foresee/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/michael-lewis-705_imagination_the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-fr_1980061.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The power of an imagination can arise from what it refuses to foresee.” — Michael Lewis",
                "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": "Michael Lewis",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“The power of an imagination can...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-from-what-it-refuses-to-foresee/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-power-of-an-imagination-can-arise-from-what-it-refuses-to-foresee/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
