--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The whole scene had an imaginary quality…" description: "\"“The whole scene had an imaginary quality to it. I knew that it was real, but at the same time it was better than reality, more nearly a projection of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg" --- # The whole scene had an imaginary quality to it. I knew… ![“The whole scene had an imaginary quality to it. I knew that it was real, but at the same time it was better than reality, more nearly a projection of what I wanted from reality than anything I had experienced before.” quote by Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg) > ““The whole scene had an imaginary quality to it. I knew that it was real, but at the same time it was better than reality, more nearly a projection of what I wanted from reality than anything I had experienced before.”” [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator perceives reality as a blend of imagination and desire, feeling the actual world falls short of his ideal vision. **In simple terms:** Reality feels less vivid than imagined desires. Key Takeaway Recognize the gap between expectation and experience. Themes perception reality imagination desire Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - personal reflection - artistic critique Key Concepts subjective reality idealization Questions to Reflect On - How does your ideal shape your view of reality? - Can you find value in the imperfect real world? A Different Perspective Idealizing can distort appreciation of real experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-reality-681102/) [Imaginary Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginary-quality-4307458/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Experienced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-experienced-1095631/) [Scene Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scene-imaginary-4307459/) ## Related quotes > [Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.-Moses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mose/life-is-not-a-problem-to-be-solved-but-a-reality-to-be-experienced-2/) [Mose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mose/) > [“As I was fixing in the bathroom, I thought about how I used to tell my ex Anne that there was “no reality.” Light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-john-x-veraja/as-i-was-fixing-in-the-bathroom-i-thought-about-how-i-used-to-tell-my/) [Carl-John X Veraja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-john-x-veraja/) > [The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-van-der-leeuw/the-mystery-of-life-is-not-a-problem-to-be-solved-but-a-reality-to-be/) [Art Van Der Leeuw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-van-der-leeuw/) > [The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved; it is a reality to be experienced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/the-mystery-of-life-is-not-a-problem-to-be-solved-it-is-a-reality-to/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-not-a-problem-to-be-solved-but-a-reality-to-be-experienced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is a reality to be experienced, and to live fully is to be engaged in the passions of one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-mamerto/life-is-a-reality-to-be-experienced-and-to-live-fully-is-to-be/) [Edwin Mamerto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-mamerto/) > [Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adi-shankara/reality-can-be-experienced-only-with-the-eye-of-understanding-not/) [Adi Shankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adi-shankara/) > [“life is not a puzzle to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tsarion/life-is-not-a-puzzle-to-be-solved-but-a-reality-to-be-experienced/) [Michael Tsarion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tsarion/) > [Fantasy love is much better than Reality Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/fantasy-love-is-much-better-than-reality-love/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [“You couldn't wake someone when his own dreams turned out better than reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-bennett/you-couldn-t-wake-someone-when-his-own-dreams-turned-out-better-than/) [Danielle Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-bennett/) > [Fantasy is often better than reality. It's much more inspiring not to go to places than to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/fantasy-is-often-better-than-reality-it-s-much-more-inspiring-not-to/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [Sometimes dreams are better than reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-gilliam/sometimes-dreams-are-better-than-reality/) [Ryan Gilliam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-gilliam/) > [The idea of being famous is a lot better than the reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-felton/the-idea-of-being-famous-is-a-lot-better-than-the-reality/) [Tom Felton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-felton/) > [Absolutely no time for people that think they are better than everyone else when in reality are nothing special at all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/absolutely-no-time-for-people-that-think-they-are-better-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I learned a long, long time ago, that I could accomplish things in this place we call reality and yet still spend most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-walker/i-learned-a-long-long-time-ago-that-i-could-accomplish-things-in-this/) [Kevin Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-walker/) ## More by Paul Auster > [“On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/on-his-best-walks-he-was-able-to-feel-that-he-was-nowhere-and-this/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-see-the-interesting-thing-about-books-as-opposed-say-to-films-is/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I'm not a man deeply interested in technology. It eludes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-man-deeply-interested-in-technology-it-eludes-me/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“What people saw when he appeared before them, then, was not really him, but a person he had invented, an artificial creature he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-people-saw-when-he-appeared-before-them-then-was-not-really-him/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/as-long-as-there-s-one-person-to-believe-it-there-s-no-story-that-can/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-has-always-had-a-tactile-quality-for-me-it-s-a-physical/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The ideal reader's the same, and I suppose this person has never had a face or a gender or an age. It's just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-ideal-reader-s-the-same-and-i-suppose-this-person-has-never-had-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Most lives vanish. A person dies, and little by little all traces of that life disappear. An inventor survives in his inventions, an architect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/most-lives-vanish-a-person-dies-and-little-by-little-all-traces-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“and cut down many trees. When the Humans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/and-cut-down-many-trees-when-the-humans/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) [Explore all 582 Paul Auster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The whole scene had an imaginary quality to it. I knew that it was real, but at the same time it was better than reality, more nearly a projection of what I wanted from reality than anything I had experienced before.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Auster" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality-to-it-i-knew-that-it-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality-to-it-i-knew-that-it-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/paul-auster-351_life_the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality_2118063.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The whole scene had an imaginary quality to it. I knew that it was real, but at the same time it was better…” — Paul Auster", "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": "Paul Auster", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The whole scene had an imaginary...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality-to-it-i-knew-that-it-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-whole-scene-had-an-imaginary-quality-to-it-i-knew-that-it-was/#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 } } ] } ```