--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man, to be greatly good, must imagine…" description: "\"“A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and many others; the pains and plea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_imagination_a-man-to-be-greatly-good-must-imagine-in_3225093.jpg" --- # A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and… ![“A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination.” quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_imagination_a-man-to-be-greatly-good-must-imagine-in_3225093.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_imagination_a-man-to-be-greatly-good-must-imagine-in_3225093.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/percy-bysshe-shelley-476_imagination_a-man-to-be-greatly-good-must-imagine-in_3225093.jpg) > ““A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. The great instrument of moral good is the imagination.”” [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moral goodness requires deep empathy; we must imagine others' experiences as our own. **In simple terms:** Goodness needs empathy and imagination. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy through imagination. Themes ethics empathy imagination morality Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - conflict resolution - education - leadership - social work - artistic creation Key Concepts philosophy psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice putting yourself in another's shoes? - What limits does imagination have in moral action? A Different Perspective Imagination alone may not overcome systemic injustice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-imagination-243245/) [Good Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-imagine-393121/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Instrument Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instrument-moral-1473434/) [Moral Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-good-517567/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The great instrument of moral good is the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-great-instrument-of-moral-good-is-the-imagination/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/a-man-to-be-greatly-good-must-imagine-intensely-and-comprehensively/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The great secret of morals is love; or a going out of our nature, and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-great-secret-of-morals-is-love-or-a-going-out-of-our-nature-and/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [If things are not so good, you may be one to imagine something better. For me, I was able to imagine myself as in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-forbes-nash-jr/if-things-are-not-so-good-you-may-be-one-to-imagine-something-better/) [John Forbes Nash, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-forbes-nash-jr/) > [Good can imagine Evil; but Evil cannot imagine Good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/good-can-imagine-evil-but-evil-cannot-imagine-good/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Because nothing is as good as you can imagine it. No one is as beautiful as she is in your head. Nothing is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-nothing-is-as-good-as-you-can-imagine-it-no-one-is-as/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“She set them up on a date with their subconscious because nothing is as good as you can imagine it. No one is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/she-set-them-up-on-a-date-with-their-subconscious-because-nothing-is/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Good Movies Are Result Of Good Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/good-movies-are-result-of-good-imagination/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [I've got a good imagination, so I can see someone arguing over a parking ticket and imagine they're getting a divorce or something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-stansfield/i-ve-got-a-good-imagination-so-i-can-see-someone-arguing-over-a/) [Lisa Stansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-stansfield/) > [“A good imagination may be the best friend of loners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-smith/a-good-imagination-may-be-the-best-friend-of-loners/) [Kirsten Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-smith/) > [He smiled and tapped my nose. "Two thank-yous in as many days. I don't suppose I'll get to see any, uh, special gratitude?" I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/he-smiled-and-tapped-my-nose-two-thank-yous-in-as-many-days-i-don-t/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [The writer must have a good imagination to begin with, but the imagination has to be muscular, which means it must be exercised in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-writer-must-have-a-good-imagination-to-begin-with-but-the/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I guess I'm a very keen observer, and I'd like to think I have a good imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-guess-i-m-a-very-keen-observer-and-i-d-like-to-think-i-have-a-good/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) > [I'm not really a guy who draws on things from my own past. I think if you're a competent actor with a good imagination,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ferrer/i-m-not-really-a-guy-who-draws-on-things-from-my-own-past-i-think-if/) [Miguel Ferrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ferrer/) > [If you have a good inner life, you don't get lonely. I've got a good imagination. I don't miss romance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-rigg/if-you-have-a-good-inner-life-you-don-t-get-lonely-i-ve-got-a-good/) [Diana Rigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-rigg/) ## More by Percy Bysshe Shelley > [The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark--now glittering--now reflecting gloom-- Now lending splendour, where from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-everlasting-universe-of-things-flows-through-the-mind-and-rolls/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-quick-dreams-the-passion-winged-ministers-of-thought/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hail-to-thee-blithe-spirit/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The jealous keys of truth's eternal doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-jealous-keys-of-truth-s-eternal-doors/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Though we eat little flesh and drink no wine, Yet let's be merry; we'll have tea and toast; Custards for supper, and an endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/though-we-eat-little-flesh-and-drink-no-wine-yet-let-s-be-merry-we-ll/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [A dream has power to poison sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/a-dream-has-power-to-poison-sleep/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Titles are tinsel, power a corrupter, glorya bubble, and excessive wealth a libel on its possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/titles-are-tinsel-power-a-corrupter-glorya-bubble-and-excessive/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed !”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-fall-upon-the-thorns-of-life-i-bleed/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poets-and-philosophers-are-the-unacknowledged-legislators-of-the-world/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude To live alone, an isolated thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/dar-st-thou-amid-the-varied-multitude-to-live-alone-an-isolated-thing/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [I love tranquil solitude, And such society As is quiet, wise, and good; Between thee and me What difference? but thou dost possess The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/i-love-tranquil-solitude-and-such-society-as-is-quiet-wise-and-good/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The practice of utter sincerity towards other men would avail to no good end, if they were incapable of practising it towards their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-practice-of-utter-sincerity-towards-other-men-would-avail-to-no/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow claspest the limits of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/thou-shoreless-flood-which-in-thy-ebb-and-flow-claspest-the-limits-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Senseless is the breast and cold Which relenting love would fold; Bloodless are the veins and chill Which the pulse of pain did fill;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/senseless-is-the-breast-and-cold-which-relenting-love-would-fold/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) [Explore all 533 Percy Bysshe Shelley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) ## 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": "“A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. 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