--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Collecting facts is important. Knowledge…" description: "\"Collecting facts is important. Knowledge is important. But if you don't have an imagination to use the knowledge, civilization is nowhere.\" — Ray Bradbury" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/ray-bradbury-75_civilization_collecting-facts-is-important-knowledge_2036897.jpg" --- # Collecting facts is important. Knowledge is important. But… ![“Collecting facts is important. Knowledge is important. But if you don't have an imagination to use the knowledge, civilization is nowhere.” quote by Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/ray-bradbury-75_civilization_collecting-facts-is-important-knowledge_2036897.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/ray-bradbury-75_civilization_collecting-facts-is-important-knowledge_2036897.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/ray-bradbury-75_civilization_collecting-facts-is-important-knowledge_2036897.jpg) > “Collecting facts is important. Knowledge is important. But if you don't have an imagination to use the knowledge, civilization is nowhere.” [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Facts and knowledge are useless without imagination, which drives civilization forward. **In simple terms:** Imagination makes knowledge useful. Key Takeaway Cultivate imagination alongside learning. Themes knowledge imagination civilization Mood thought‑provoking creative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - creative writing - R&D Key Concepts creativity innovation Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance imagination with realism? - What role does imagination play in problem‑solving? A Different Perspective Overreliance on imagination may ignore practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [After my return to England it appeared to me that by following the example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting all facts which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/after-my-return-to-england-it-appeared-to-me-that-by-following-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Get the facts. Let's not even attempt to solve our problems without first collecting all the facts in an impartial manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/get-the-facts-let-s-not-even-attempt-to-solve-our-problems-without/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [“Modern education does no favour to the children it is supposed to teach when it de-emphasizes facts; although facts are not the only important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-eysenck/modern-education-does-no-favour-to-the-children-it-is-supposed-to/) [Hans Eysenck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-eysenck/) > [Facts from paper are not the same as facts from people. The reliability of the people giving you the facts is as important as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/facts-from-paper-are-not-the-same-as-facts-from-people-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My head is filled with so much crap, or facts that I find important, but that some others don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/my-head-is-filled-with-so-much-crap-or-facts-that-i-find-important/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [“Facts are important, the story is important. It's what happens to you that changes your life, not where or who with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fabio-geda/facts-are-important-the-story-is-important-it-s-what-happens-to-you/) [Fabio Geda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fabio-geda/) > [I want this book to be facts, to be important, to be history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoli-boukreev/i-want-this-book-to-be-facts-to-be-important-to-be-history/) [Anatoli Boukreev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoli-boukreev/) > [Never forget the facts are important but it's the opinion of the facts that causes comment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-forget-the-facts-are-important-but-it-s-the-opinion-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Facts are important to me, not emotions. 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The ancient Egyptians did not raise the stones for the pyramids relying on the incantations of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/knowledge-has-always-been-important-of-course-the-ancient-egyptians/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [People knowledge is much more important than mere product knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/people-knowledge-is-much-more-important-than-mere-product-knowledge/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) ## More by Ray Bradbury > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" He laughed. "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/do-you-ever-read-any-of-the-books-you-burn-he-laughed-that-s-against/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [There's no reason to burn books if you don't read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-s-no-reason-to-burn-books-if-you-don-t-read-them/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. 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People should educate themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-spent-three-days-a-week-for-10-years-educating-myself-in-the-public/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [If we try to deny the darkness in our souls then we'll become completely dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-we-try-to-deny-the-darkness-in-our-souls-then-we-ll-become/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/but-remember-that-the-captain-belongs-to-the-most-dangerous-enemy-to/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) [Explore all 1,520 Ray Bradbury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. 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