--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is not what we live; it is what we…" description: "\"Life is not what we live; it is what we imagine we are living.\" — Pascal Mercier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png" --- # Life is not what we live; it is what we imagine we are… ![“Life is not what we live; it is what we imagine we are living.” quote by Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png) > “Life is not what we live; it is what we imagine we are living.” [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests identity is defined not by actions alone but by the imagined self, emphasizing the power of imagination in shaping one’s life narrative. **In simple terms:** We are what we imagine ourselves to be. Key Takeaway Cultivate empowering self‑images. Themes identity imagination philosophy existence self‑concept Mood thoughtful inspirational philosophical Type reflective motivational When to use this quote - personal development - creative visualization - therapy - goal setting Key Concepts existentialism self‑creation narrative identity Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination influence choices? - Can imagined identity become self‑fulfilling? A Different Perspective Imagination alone may ignore reality; could lead to escapism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Rehearsal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rehearsal/) ## Related quotes > [“You only get one life to live. Imagine for a moment that you were free of all the expectations in your life. What would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-holden-bright-side/you-only-get-one-life-to-live-imagine-for-a-moment-that-you-were-free/) Kim Holden - Bright Side > [“Do my parents live in the Imagine Nation Are they superheroes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-myklusch/do-my-parents-live-in-the-imagine-nation-are-they-superheroes/) [matt myklusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-myklusch/) > [Before we can build the world we want to live in, we have to imagine it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/before-we-can-build-the-world-we-want-to-live-in-we-have-to-imagine-it/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [“Reimagine 2025 by Stewart Stafford Imagine no Viagra, Put yourself at ease, Flags at half-mast, limp, No one worthy to please. Imagine no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/reimagine-2025-by-stewart-stafford-imagine-no-viagra-put-yourself-at/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [The more we live with what we imagine others think of us, the less we live with truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/the-more-we-live-with-what-we-imagine-others-think-of-us-the-less-we/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [I could never imagine myself living anywhere but Pittsburgh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-sammartino/i-could-never-imagine-myself-living-anywhere-but-pittsburgh/) [Bruno Sammartino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-sammartino/) > [Creativity is essential to any kind of joyful living. Sometimes I act, sometimes I draw, I paint, I write poems. I can't imagine living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/creativity-is-essential-to-any-kind-of-joyful-living-sometimes-i-act/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [Imagine living like a king someday A single night without a ghost in the walls A if the bass shakes the world to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-gone/imagine-living-like-a-king-someday-a-single-night-without-a-ghost-in/) She's\_gone > [“I live in the past. I take everything that has happened to me and arrange it. From a distance like that, it doesn't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-live-in-the-past-i-take-everything-that-has-happened-to-me-and/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I couldn't imagine how i would get from here to there. i couldn't imagine living through a whole string of identical days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-watson/i-couldn-t-imagine-how-i-would-get-from-here-to-there-i-couldn-t/) [S.J. Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-watson/) > [I can't imagine living and not running.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-radcliffe/i-can-t-imagine-living-and-not-running/) [Paula Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-radcliffe/) > [I couldnt imagine living my life with another name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-postlethwaite/i-couldnt-imagine-living-my-life-with-another-name/) [Pete Postlethwaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-postlethwaite/) > [I couldn't imagine living the way I used to live. Now people come up to me from the drug days and go, 'Hi, remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/i-couldn-t-imagine-living-the-way-i-used-to-live-now-people-come-up/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [You inherit real estate when you stay in line, can you even imagine living in my state of mind?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-ross/you-inherit-real-estate-when-you-stay-in-line-can-you-even-imagine/) [Rick Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-ross/) > [Imagine yourself as a living house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/imagine-yourself-as-a-living-house/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) ## More by Pascal Mercier > [To live for the moment: it sounds so right and so beautiful. But the more I want to, the less I understand what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/to-live-for-the-moment-it-sounds-so-right-and-so-beautiful-but-the/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [What did i know of your fantasies? Why do we know so little about the fantasies of our parents? What do we know of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/what-did-i-know-of-your-fantasies-why-do-we-know-so-little-about-the/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“One who would really like to know himself would have to be a restless, fanatical collector of disappointments, and seeking disappointing experiences must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/one-who-would-really-like-to-know-himself-would-have-to-be-a-restless/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [SOLIDAO, LONELINESS. What is it that we call loneliness. It can't simply be the absence of others, you can be alone and not lonely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/solidao-loneliness-what-is-it-that-we-call-loneliness-it-can-t-simply/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [Then there was a silence he had never before experienced: in it, you could hear the years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/then-there-was-a-silence-he-had-never-before-experienced-in-it-you/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“For that is the meaning of a farewell in the full, important sense of the word: that the two people, because they part, come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/for-that-is-the-meaning-of-a-farewell-in-the-full-important-sense-of/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [Gregorius was never to forget this scene. They were his first Portuguese words in the real world and they worked. That words could cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/gregorius-was-never-to-forget-this-scene-they-were-his-first/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“After a while, he understood that he was experiencing a great liberation; the liberation from his self-imposed limitation, from a slowness and heaviness expressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/after-a-while-he-understood-that-he-was-experiencing-a-great/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“We can be sure that we will hold on to the deathbed as part of the last balance sheet – and this part will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/we-can-be-sure-that-we-will-hold-on-to-the-deathbed-as-part-of-the/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“NOBREZA SILENCIOSA. SILENT NOBILITY. It is a mistake to believe that the crucial moments of a life when its habitual direction changes forever must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/nobreza-silenciosa-silent-nobility-it-is-a-mistake-to-believe-that/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“Because the one who wishes it – isn’t the one who, still untouched by the future, stands at the crossroads. Instead, it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/because-the-one-who-wishes-it-isn-t-the-one-who-still-untouched-by/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [It is not the pain and the wounds that are the worst. The worst is the humiliation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/it-is-not-the-pain-and-the-wounds-that-are-the-worst-the-worst-is-the/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [Isn't it true that it's not people who meet, but rather the shadows cast by their imaginations?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/isn-t-it-true-that-it-s-not-people-who-meet-but-rather-the-shadows/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [Loyalty... A will, a decision, a resolution of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/loyalty-a-will-a-decision-a-resolution-of-the-soul/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [“It is a mistake to believe that the decisive moments of a life when its direction changes for ever must be marked by sentimental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/it-is-a-mistake-to-believe-that-the-decisive-moments-of-a-life-when/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) [Explore all 69 Pascal Mercier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) ## 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": "Life is not what we live; it is what we imagine we are living.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pascal Mercier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-imagine-we-are-living/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-imagine-we-are-living/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22b/pascal-mercier-4197_imagination_life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-i_1308057.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life is not what we live; it is what we imagine we are living.” — Pascal Mercier", "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": "Pascal Mercier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life is not what we live;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-imagine-we-are-living/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/life-is-not-what-we-live-it-is-what-we-imagine-we-are-living/#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 } } ] } ```