--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the end, the key ingredient for public…" description: "\"In the end, the key ingredient for public life is imagination. You imagine something better, you try to bring the people with you.\" — Paul Keating" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ae/paul-keating-8731_ends_in-the-end-the-key-ingredient-for-public_2421757.png" --- # In the end, the key ingredient for public life is… ![“In the end, the key ingredient for public life is imagination. You imagine something better, you try to bring the people with you.” quote by Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ae/paul-keating-8731_ends_in-the-end-the-key-ingredient-for-public_2421757.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ae/paul-keating-8731_ends_in-the-end-the-key-ingredient-for-public_2421757.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ae/paul-keating-8731_ends_in-the-end-the-key-ingredient-for-public_2421757.png) > “In the end, the key ingredient for public life is imagination. You imagine something better, you try to bring the people with you.” [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagination fuels public service; envisioning better futures inspires collective action. **In simple terms:** Imagining better futures drives public progress. Key Takeaway Use imagination to shape community goals. Themes leadership imagination public service Mood hopeful strategic Type inspirational political When to use this quote - policy making - community organizing - education reform Key Concepts political theory visionary thinking Questions to Reflect On - What future do you imagine for your community? - How can you turn vision into policy? A Different Perspective Imagination alone cannot solve practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bring People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bring-people/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-imagine-3021177/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Imagine Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine-better-475589/) [Ingredients](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ingredients/) [Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keys/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-imagination-300494/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Public life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-life/) [Something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something-better/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [“Your problem is a serious lack of imagination. You can’t imagine being different than you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-morris/your-problem-is-a-serious-lack-of-imagination-you-can-t-imagine-being/) [Linda Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-morris/) > [Storytelling strengthens the imagination. To imagine is to envision, to see with the inward eye. This ability to imagine is the basis of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-birch/storytelling-strengthens-the-imagination-to-imagine-is-to-envision-to/) [Carol Birch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-birch/) > [Most people have no imagination. 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It is not 'can any of us imagine better?, but 'can we all do better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-can-succeed-only-by-concert-it-is-not-can-any-of-us-imagine-better/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Once you admit how bad it feels to live in a broken society, you can start to resist it, and imagine a better one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-furman/once-you-admit-how-bad-it-feels-to-live-in-a-broken-society-you-can/) [Ezra Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-furman/) > [“I used to imagine Better was a place you could get to. A moment when I would look around and see that Everything Was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-j-miller/i-used-to-imagine-better-was-a-place-you-could-get-to-a-moment-when-i/) [Sam J. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-j-miller/) > [I feel ashamed that so many of us cannot imagine a better way to do things than locking children up all day in cells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-feel-ashamed-that-so-many-of-us-cannot-imagine-a-better-way-to-do/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“Precisely when we should be shouldering the historic task of investing this rich, safe, and healthy existence with meaning, we’ve buried utopia instead. There’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/precisely-when-we-should-be-shouldering-the-historic-task-of/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [We must not only imagine a better future for women, children, and persecuted minorities; we must work consistently to make it happen - prioritizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadia-murad/we-must-not-only-imagine-a-better-future-for-women-children-and/) [Nadia Murad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadia-murad/) ## More by Paul Keating > [Good economics is good politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/good-economics-is-good-politics/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [One of the inevitable aspects of debates about euthanasia is the reluctance on the part of advocates to confront the essence of what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/one-of-the-inevitable-aspects-of-debates-about-euthanasia-is-the/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [I think the rise of China is one of the great events of all economic and human history, and I think this will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/i-think-the-rise-of-china-is-one-of-the-great-events-of-all-economic/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [I always believed in burning up the government's political capital, not being Mr Safe Guy, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/i-always-believed-in-burning-up-the-government-s-political-capital/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [You get one chance to do something about native title. 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Notwithstanding a controversial prime ministership, in later years he harboured one abiding and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/the-death-of-malcolm-fraser-underwrites-a-great-loss-to-australia/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [One is left with the thought that given the way we now abuse the ocean and abuse the climate that we are heading towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/one-is-left-with-the-thought-that-given-the-way-we-now-abuse-the/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [For John Howard to get to any high moral ground he would have to first climb out of the volcanic hole he's dug for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/for-john-howard-to-get-to-any-high-moral-ground-he-would-have-to/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [I think Australia has to be a country which has the 'Welcome' sign out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/i-think-australia-has-to-be-a-country-which-has-the-welcome-sign-out/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [The lesson of the Federation should be that the lesson is over. 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When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [it is the brevity of life which makes it tolerable; its experiences have value because they have an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/it-is-the-brevity-of-life-which-makes-it-tolerable-its-experiences/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. 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