---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only you can prevent the genocide of the…"
description: "\"Only you can prevent the genocide of the imagination.\" — Rob Brezsny"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png"
---

#  Only you can prevent the genocide of the imagination.

![“Only you can prevent the genocide of the imagination.” quote by Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png)

> “Only you can prevent the genocide of the imagination.”

[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.

Imagination is fragile; only individuals can protect it from being destroyed by conformity and cynicism.

**In simple terms:** Protect your imagination.

Key Takeaway

Nurture creative thinking.

Themes

imagination creativity freedom resistance

Mood

inspirational defiant

Type

philosophical creative

When to use this quote

- education
- media
- personal growth
- community building

Key Concepts

cultural criticism psychology artistic expression

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you keep imagination alive?
- What habits foster creative freedom?

A Different Perspective

Societal pressures often suppress imagination.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Genocide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide/) [Genocide Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide-imagination-688165/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Prevent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevent/) [Prevent Genocide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevent-genocide-688164/)

## Related quotes

> [Together we can prevent genocide from happening again. Together we can make a better future for our children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dith-pran/together-we-can-prevent-genocide-from-happening-again-together-we-can/)

[Dith Pran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dith-pran/)

> [Helping survivors of residential schools in Canada is not the same as the UN sending in peacekeepers to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/helping-survivors-of-residential-schools-in-canada-is-not-the-same-as/)

[Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/)

> [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/)

[Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/)

> [I've said consistently that I always reserve the right, in conjunction with a broader international effort, to prevent genocide or any wholesale slaughter than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-ve-said-consistently-that-i-always-reserve-the-right-in-conjunction/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [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/)

> [“It is a tragedy, at rate at which EBOLA VIRUS is spreading in West Africa. It is a fatal disease in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/it-is-a-tragedy-at-rate-at-which-ebola-virus-is-spreading-in-west/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [“don’t let the things you don’t have prevent you from using the things you do have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/don-t-let-the-things-you-don-t-have-prevent-you-from-using-the-things/)

[John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/)

> [You want a child who never makes you anything but proud? Please. Don't bother taking on parenthood if you can't handle the fact that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dreger/you-want-a-child-who-never-makes-you-anything-but-proud-please-don-t/)

[Alice Dreger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dreger/)

> [Alternative medicine plays into this exaggerated notion that you can prevent disease simply by doing the right thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-angell/alternative-medicine-plays-into-this-exaggerated-notion-that-you-can/)

[Marcia Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-angell/)

> [I think if we can prevent a fatal disease, we should.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-pisani/i-think-if-we-can-prevent-a-fatal-disease-we-should/)

[Elizabeth Pisani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-pisani/)

> [The only way to win World War III is to prevent it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-only-way-to-win-world-war-iii-is-to-prevent-it/)

[Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/)

> [When things don't come so naturally to you, you want to persevere, you want to keep pushing yourself to overcome obstacles that prevent you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tammet/when-things-don-t-come-so-naturally-to-you-you-want-to-persevere-you/)

[Daniel Tammet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tammet/)

> [The only thing to prevent what's past is to put a stop to it before it happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyle-roche/the-only-thing-to-prevent-what-s-past-is-to-put-a-stop-to-it-before/)

[Boyle Roche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyle-roche/)

> [It is truly vital for the United States to assure that it is not attacked with weapons of mass destruction; to prevent wars in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/it-is-truly-vital-for-the-united-states-to-assure-that-it-is-not/)

[Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/)

> [The whole nuclear-arms-control and non-proliferation policy of the nuclear powers is a fraud: The Americans could not prevent the Soviets from replicating their weaponry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-black/the-whole-nuclear-arms-control-and-non-proliferation-policy-of-the/)

[Conrad Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-black/)

## 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 Creativity quotes

> [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/)

[Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/)

> [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/)

> [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/)

[Andrei Amalrik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-amalrik/)

> [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/)

[John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/)

> [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/)

> [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/)

[Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/)

> [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/)

[M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/)

> [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/)

> [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/)

[Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/)

> [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/)

[Christoph Niemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-niemann/)

> [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/)

[David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/)

> [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/)

[Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/)

> [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Only you can prevent the genocide of the imagination.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Rob Brezsny"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the-imagination/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Creativity"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the-imagination/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/rob-brezsny-7732_creativity_only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the_1654307.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Only you can prevent the genocide of the imagination.” — Rob Brezsny",
                "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": "Rob Brezsny",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Only you can prevent the genocide...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the-imagination/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/only-you-can-prevent-the-genocide-of-the-imagination/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
