--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Above all, it's hard learning to live…" description: "\"Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is the edgy existence within me of th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png" --- # Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental… ![“Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is the edgy existence within me of these unmade images that is the only assurance that the best photographs are yet to be made.” quote by Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png) > “Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is the edgy existence within me of these unmade images that is the only assurance that the best photographs are yet to be made.” [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unrealized visions of missed photographs fuel the photographer’s drive, assuring future creative breakthroughs. **In simple terms:** Missing shots inspire future work. Key Takeaway Embrace loss as motivation. Themes creativity memory aspiration Mood nostalgic inspired Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - photography - storytelling - personal growth Key Concepts visual art imagination Questions to Reflect On - What lessons do missed shots teach? - How can you channel longing into new projects? A Different Perspective Obsessing over past failures may hinder present work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) [Edgy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgy/) [Edgy Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edgy-existence-5223621/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Mental Images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-images-327036/) [Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph/) [Photograph Edgy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph-edgy-5223619/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Scene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scene/) [Unmade Images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unmade-images-5223620/) [Vivid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vivid/) ## Related quotes > [“Paul closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun. In spite of everything, it was hard not to take solace from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-egan/paul-closed-his-eyes-and-turned-his-face-to-the-sun-in-spite-of/) [Greg Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-egan/) > [I had to train myself to focus my attention. I became very visual and learned how to create mental images in order to comprehend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-cruise/i-had-to-train-myself-to-focus-my-attention-i-became-very-visual-and/) [Tom Cruise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-cruise/) > [Concepts are mental images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/concepts-are-mental-images/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [My ideas often come from strong mental images. When I'm observing some relatively ordinary thing, I'll think, "What if…" and out of that brainstorming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/my-ideas-often-come-from-strong-mental-images-when-i-m-observing-some/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Peak performers develop powerful mental images of the behavior that will lead to the desired results. They see in their mind's eye the result…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-garfield/peak-performers-develop-powerful-mental-images-of-the-behavior-that/) [Charles Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-garfield/) > [Using your imagination to create mental images stimulates your mind, helps organize your life and keeps your focus in a particular direction. It allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-st-pierre/using-your-imagination-to-create-mental-images-stimulates-your-mind/) [Georges St-Pierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-st-pierre/) > [“The first two-dimensional images were thus not two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional things in the material world, as researchers have always assumed. Rather, they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/the-first-two-dimensional-images-were-thus-not-two-dimensional/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [“Once human beings had developed higher-order consciousness, they had the ability to see mental images projected onto surfaces and to experience afterimages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/once-human-beings-had-developed-higher-order-consciousness-they-had/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [“Primary consciousness is a state of being aware of things in the world – of having mental images in the present.But it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/primary-consciousness-is-a-state-of-being-aware-of-things-in-the/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [“Under certain social circumstances, which may have varied from time to time and place to place, certain people (shamans) saw a relationship between the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/under-certain-social-circumstances-which-may-have-varied-from-time-to/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [Until we let go of our mental images of who we are or who we should be, our vision remains clouded by expectation. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-buchheit/until-we-let-go-of-our-mental-images-of-who-we-are-or-who-we-should/) [Paul Buchheit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-buchheit/) > [“You act, and feel, not according to what things are really like, but according to the image your mind holds of what they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/you-act-and-feel-not-according-to-what-things-are-really-like-but/) [Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/) > [It would be wrong of me to suppose that just because I can form private mental images, that everyone can. As Francis Galton and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berman/it-would-be-wrong-of-me-to-suppose-that-just-because-i-can-form/) [David Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berman/) > [“Idolatry is not the use of images, but confusing them with what they represent, and in this respect mental images and lofty abstractions can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/idolatry-is-not-the-use-of-images-but-confusing-them-with-what-they/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [It is my mind, with its store of images, that gives the world colour and sound; and that supremely real and rational certainty which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/it-is-my-mind-with-its-store-of-images-that-gives-the-world-colour/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) ## More by Sam Abell > [Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment - this very moment - to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/photography-alone-of-the-arts-seems-perfected-to-serve-the-desire/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [I did it once, and National Geographic recruited me. I did it primarily out of curiosity. A lot of legendary photographers had worked on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/i-did-it-once-and-national-geographic-recruited-me-i-did-it-primarily/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [I can't speak for other photographers, but the photographers who went forward strongly when the so-called "official" part of their career ended, to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/i-can-t-speak-for-other-photographers-but-the-photographers-who-went/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [Actually, ambition won't get you that far. You'll shift gears. You'll see something that's shinier. But if you believe... then you're the long-distance runner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/actually-ambition-won-t-get-you-that-far-you-ll-shift-gears-you-ll/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/a-mad-keen-photographer-needs-to-get-out-into-the-world-and-work-and/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [I have this awareness that the more dynamic the situation is, the more on guard I need to be that the dynamic isn't controlling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/i-have-this-awareness-that-the-more-dynamic-the-situation-is-the-more/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [What I'm interested in is modern American history. I'm taken with the changes that have occurred in America in my lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/what-i-m-interested-in-is-modern-american-history-i-m-taken-with-the/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [Essentially what photography is is life lit up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/essentially-what-photography-is-is-life-lit-up/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [Life rarely presents fully finished photographs. An image evolves, often from a single strand of visual interest - a distant horizon, a moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/life-rarely-presents-fully-finished-photographs-an-image-evolves/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [Photographs that transcend but do not deny their literal situation appeal to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/photographs-that-transcend-but-do-not-deny-their-literal-situation/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [I wanted life to be episodic. I wanted to be a magazine photographer and I was willing to do what it took to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/i-wanted-life-to-be-episodic-i-wanted-to-be-a-magazine-photographer/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [ That statement \[ Stephen Ambrose:'You, Sam, have the hardest job, which is, pretend like nothing has happened in the last 200 years.'\] woke me… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/that-statement-stephen-ambrose-you-sam-have-the-hardest-job-which-is/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [The unusual wins out over the usual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/the-unusual-wins-out-over-the-usual/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [Even though I teach with 35mm, my method takes people by surprise, because it isn't fast, and it isn't about hardware or software, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/even-though-i-teach-with-35mm-my-method-takes-people-by-surprise/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [The class that I teach is called "The Life of a Photograph." It takes up the question, of the billion photographs that were taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/the-class-that-i-teach-is-called-the-life-of-a-photograph-it-takes-up/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) [Explore all 87 Sam Abell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) ## More Assurance quotes > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [When God overcomes our difficulties for us, we have the assurance that we are engaged in His work and not our own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-muller/when-god-overcomes-our-difficulties-for-us-we-have-the-assurance-that/) [George Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-muller/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There are believers who by God's grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/there-are-believers-who-by-god-s-grace-have-climbed-the-mountains-of/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Everybody in the real world will agree - the moment a project is behind deadline, quality assurance tends to go out the window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cox/everybody-in-the-real-world-will-agree-the-moment-a-project-is-behind/) [Alan Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cox/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [We have a commitment to serve our Lord. We have an assurance that the cause is just and worthy. But, above all, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/we-have-a-commitment-to-serve-our-lord-we-have-an-assurance-that-the/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do not rest, believer, until you have full assurance of your interest in Jesus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/do-not-rest-believer-until-you-have-full-assurance-of-your-interest/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Confidentially, the type of male I find most enjoyable for a friend is one who has enough fire and assurance to speak up for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/confidentially-the-type-of-male-i-find-most-enjoyable-for-a-friend-is/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Our assurance is anchored in the love and grace of God expressed in the glorious exchange: our sin for His righteousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/our-assurance-is-anchored-in-the-love-and-grace-of-god-expressed-in/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) [Browse all 557 Assurance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is the edgy existence within me of these unmade images that is the only assurance that the best photographs are yet to be made.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sam Abell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-with-vivid-mental-images-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assurance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-with-vivid-mental-images-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/sam-abell-7768_assurance_above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-wit_2264661.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to…” — Sam Abell", "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": "Sam Abell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Above all, it's hard learning to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-with-vivid-mental-images-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/above-all-it-s-hard-learning-to-live-with-vivid-mental-images-of/#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 } } ] } ```