--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any media-brainwashed automaton can…" description: "\"Any media-brainwashed automaton can summon the insipid courage to peer into the horrifying abyss. But it takes a freaking genius with a fearless imagin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/rob-brezsny-7732_abyss_any-media-brainwashed-automaton-can-summ_2268705.png" --- # Any media-brainwashed automaton can summon the insipid… ![“Any media-brainwashed automaton can summon the insipid courage to peer into the horrifying abyss. But it takes a freaking genius with a fearless imagination to peer into the maw of happiness.” quote by Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/rob-brezsny-7732_abyss_any-media-brainwashed-automaton-can-summ_2268705.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/rob-brezsny-7732_abyss_any-media-brainwashed-automaton-can-summ_2268705.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/rob-brezsny-7732_abyss_any-media-brainwashed-automaton-can-summ_2268705.png) > “Any media-brainwashed automaton can summon the insipid courage to peer into the horrifying abyss. But it takes a freaking genius with a fearless imagination to peer into the maw of happiness.” [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mediocre minds can face fear, but true genius imagines joy in the abyss. **In simple terms:** Imagination transforms fear into happiness. Key Takeaway Cultivate fearless imagination. Themes creativity courage imagination Mood philosophical provocative Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - artistic creation - problem solving - personal development Key Concepts fear happiness genius Questions to Reflect On - What does “horrifying abyss” symbolize? - How can imagination overcome fear? A Different Perspective Imagination may be limited by reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) [Brainwashed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brainwashed/) [Brainwashed Automaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brainwashed-automaton-5248374/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Fearless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearless/) [Fearless Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearless-imagination-5248372/) [Freaking Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freaking-genius-1489864/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Genius Fearless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius-fearless-5248373/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Insipid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insipid/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Peers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peers/) ## Related quotes > [If I studied the way I do during finals week all year long, I would be a freaking genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-studied-the-way-i-do-during-finals-week-all-year-long-i-would-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I didn't do it... Then why are you laughing? Cause whoever did it, is a freaking genius!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-didn-t-do-it-then-why-are-you-laughing-cause-whoever-did-it-is-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you learn from your mistakes, you must be freaking genius!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-learn-from-your-mistakes-you-must-be-freaking-genius/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You:I didn't do it Person:Then why are you laughing? You:Cause, whoever did it is a freaking genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/you-i-didn-t-do-it-person-then-why-are-you-laughing-you-cause-whoever/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Your drive to produce hard-edged opinions stoked by hostility is likely a sign that you've been brainwashed by the pedestrian influences of pop nihilism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/your-drive-to-produce-hard-edged-opinions-stoked-by-hostility-is/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Death is not earnest in the same way the eternal is. To the earnestness of death belongs precisely that remarkable capacity for awakening, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/death-is-not-earnest-in-the-same-way-the-eternal-is-to-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [England has never enjoyed a genuine social revolution. Maybe that's what's wrong with that dear, tepid, vapid, insipid, stuffy, little country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/england-has-never-enjoyed-a-genuine-social-revolution-maybe-that-s/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Shabbat is a day of rest, of mental scrutiny and of balance. Without it the workdays are insipid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayim-nahman-bialik/shabbat-is-a-day-of-rest-of-mental-scrutiny-and-of-balance-without-it/) [Hayim Nahman Bialik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayim-nahman-bialik/) > [“An insipid voice message or an incongruent emergence from the “other” world may disrupt our whole thinking system. If we are not able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/an-insipid-voice-message-or-an-incongruent-emergence-from-the-other/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [A genius is the man in whom you are least likely to find the power of attending to anything insipid or distasteful in itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/a-genius-is-the-man-in-whom-you-are-least-likely-to-find-the-power-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Nothing conceivable is so petty, so insipid, so crowded with paltry interests, in one word, so anti-poetic, as the life of a man in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/nothing-conceivable-is-so-petty-so-insipid-so-crowded-with-paltry/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [The bread I eat in London, is a deleterious paste, mixed up with chalk, alum, and bone ashes: insipid to the taste, and destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-smollett/the-bread-i-eat-in-london-is-a-deleterious-paste-mixed-up-with-chalk/) [Tobias Smollett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-smollett/) > [Great wits, like great beauties, look upon mere esteem as a flat insipid thing; nothing less than admiration will content them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremiah-seed/great-wits-like-great-beauties-look-upon-mere-esteem-as-a-flat/) [Jeremiah Seed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremiah-seed/) > [Water and oil, simply considered, are capable of giving some pleasure to the taste. Water, when simple, is insipid, inodorous, colorless, and smooth; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/water-and-oil-simply-considered-are-capable-of-giving-some-pleasure/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Atheism can benefit no class of people; neither the unfortunate, whom it bereaves of hope, nor the prosperous, whose joys it renders insipid, nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/atheism-can-benefit-no-class-of-people-neither-the-unfortunate-whom/) [François-René de Chateaubriand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/) ## More by Rob Brezsny > [May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years. May you wake up... and start dancing while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/may-you-eat-an-unfamiliar-dessert-in-a-strange-land-at-least-once/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Act as if the universe is a prodigious miracle created for your amusement and illumination. Assume that secret helpers are working behind the scenes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/act-as-if-the-universe-is-a-prodigious-miracle-created-for-your/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Your sweet spot is in between the true believers and the scoffing skeptics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/your-sweet-spot-is-in-between-the-true-believers-and-the-scoffing/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Not waiting for someone to give you what you can give yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/not-waiting-for-someone-to-give-you-what-you-can-give-yourself/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [If you bury your face in your tear-stained pillow and beg God to please send you your soul mate, may you not slur your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/if-you-bury-your-face-in-your-tear-stained-pillow-and-beg-god-to/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [I will never again cast a curse on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/i-will-never-again-cast-a-curse-on-myself/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [What worn-out shticks are blinding you to the blessings that life is conspiring to give you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/what-worn-out-shticks-are-blinding-you-to-the-blessings-that-life-is/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Blow kisses to the oak trees and sparrows and elephants and weeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/blow-kisses-to-the-oak-trees-and-sparrows-and-elephants-and-weeds/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Proclaim the only truth you can be totally sure of: "I don't know."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/proclaim-the-only-truth-you-can-be-totally-sure-of-i-don-t-know/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Your imagination is the single most important asset you possess. Your imagination is your power to create mental pictures of things that don't exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/your-imagination-is-the-single-most-important-asset-you-possess-your/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [“Imagine that the whole world belongs to you. The birch trees in New Hampshire's White Mountains are yours, and so are the cirrus clouds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/imagine-that-the-whole-world-belongs-to-you-the-birch-trees-in-new/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [Here's what I say: We will ignore the cult of doom and gloom and embrace the cause of zoom and boom. We will laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/here-s-what-i-say-we-will-ignore-the-cult-of-doom-and-gloom-and/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [We're not going to waste our valuable space or your precious energy by giving equal time to stories of tragedy, failure, and tumult. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/we-re-not-going-to-waste-our-valuable-space-or-your-precious-energy/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [But you will be hard-pressed to find more than a few novels, films, news stories, and TV shows that dare to depict life as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/but-you-will-be-hard-pressed-to-find-more-than-a-few-novels-films/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [HYPOTHESES: Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/hypotheses-evil-is-boring-cynicism-is-idiotic-fear-is-a-bad-habit/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) [Explore all 88 Rob Brezsny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) ## More Abyss quotes > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I admire the Elsie Tanners and Barbara Windsors of the world: people who have crawled back from the abyss. I'm quite camp in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-eclair/i-admire-the-elsie-tanners-and-barbara-windsors-of-the-world-people/) [Jenny Eclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-eclair/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) > [I look into my heart and see the abyss looking back at me.' 'I won't let you fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-look-into-my-heart-and-see-the-abyss-looking-back-at-me-i-won-t-let/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/there-is-no-drop-of-water-in-the-ocean-not-even-in-the-deepest-parts/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [“But first whom shall we send In search of this new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? Who shall tempt, with wand'ring feet The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/but-first-whom-shall-we-send-in-search-of-this-new-world-whom-shall/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Many women don’t know what orgasm is. Many men don’t know was total orgasm is. Many only achieve a local orgasm, a genital orgasm;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-women-don-t-know-what-orgasm-is-many-men-don-t-know-was-total/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fear not. For fear itself is fed by fear, and all fears pass. Did no one tell you so? Come take my hand, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/fear-not-for-fear-itself-is-fed-by-fear-and-all-fears-pass-did-no-one/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) [Browse all 625 Abyss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Any media-brainwashed automaton can summon the insipid courage to peer into the horrifying abyss. 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