--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I often like to think that our map of the…" description: "\"I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature as the central metap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg" --- # I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong… ![“I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature as the central metaphor that we want to work out from. Because I think literature occupies the same relationship to life that life occupies to death. A book is life…” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg) > “I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature as the central metaphor that we want to work out from. Because I think literature occupies the same relationship to life that life occupies to death. A book is life with one dimension pulled out of it. And life is something that lacks a dimension which death will give it. I imagine death to be a kind of release into the imagination in the sense that for characters in a book, what we experience is an unimaginable dimension of freedom.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that literature, like life, is a partial representation of a deeper reality, and that death may unlock the imaginative freedom that literature hints at. **In simple terms:** Literature mirrors life; death expands imagination. Key Takeaway Literature as a portal to unseen dimensions. Themes Metaphor Existentialism Imagination Death Literary theory Mood Contemplative Mystical Type Philosophical Metaphorical When to use this quote - Philosophical discussion - Creative writing workshops - Literary criticism - Death education Key Concepts Map vs. territory Dimensionality Freedom Practical Applications - Use literature to explore existential questions - Employ metaphor to teach abstract concepts Questions to Reflect On - How does framing literature as a central metaphor change our perception of knowledge? - What implications does this view have for how we confront mortality? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Dimensions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dimensions/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Work out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-out/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [The greatest element in life is not what occupies most of its time, else sleep would stand high in the scale. Nor is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-forsyth/the-greatest-element-in-life-is-not-what-occupies-most-of-its-time/) [Peter Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-forsyth/) > [Earlier maps had underestimated the distances to other continents and exaggerated the outlines of individual nations. Now global dimensions could be set, with authority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dava-sobel/earlier-maps-had-underestimated-the-distances-to-other-continents-and/) [Dava Sobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dava-sobel/) > [Human language has a vocabulary suited to our daily needs and functions: the shape of any human language maps approximately to the needs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-burnside/human-language-has-a-vocabulary-suited-to-our-daily-needs-and/) Julian Burnside > [There is this persistent theme in all of these notions that death is made more easy, whatever that means, if you've learned the territory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-this-persistent-theme-in-all-of-these-notions-that-death-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [ We \[psychonauts\] are all going to go into the books as pioneers, because it's too early for us to be anything else. There's no… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-psychonauts-are-all-going-to-go-into-the-books-as-pioneers-because/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The psychedelic species of visual beauty is something we don't see in our furniture styles and our architecture. It seems to be coming in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-psychedelic-species-of-visual-beauty-is-something-we-don-t-see-in/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The war on drugs was never meant to be won. Instead, it will be prolonged as long as possible in order to allow various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-war-on-drugs-was-never-meant-to-be-won-instead-it-will-be/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The intellectual tension that seems to work its way through this society almost like fat through meat is the tension between scientific reductionism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-intellectual-tension-that-seems-to-work-its-way-through-this/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Actually, the highest form of human organization is not realized in the democratic individual. It is realized in a dimension none of us have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/actually-the-highest-form-of-human-organization-is-not-realized-in/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [A glacier rattles in the cupboard, the desert sighs in the bed, and the crack in the teacup opens a door to the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/a-glacier-rattles-in-the-cupboard-the-desert-sighs-in-the-bed-and-the/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We have the tools, the intellect, the will to create a caring global culture. It isn't going to come without a recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-have-the-tools-the-intellect-the-will-to-create-a-caring-global/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Inwardness is the characteristic feature of the vegetable rather than the animal approach to existence. The animals move, migrate and swarm, while plants hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/inwardness-is-the-characteristic-feature-of-the-vegetable-rather-than/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I believe that the place to search for extraterrestrials is in the psychic dimension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-believe-that-the-place-to-search-for-extraterrestrials-is-in-the/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The imagination is a dimension of nonlocal information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-imagination-is-a-dimension-of-nonlocal-information/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [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/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [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/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [It's meanings that we need to coax into our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/it-s-meanings-that-we-need-to-coax-into-our-lives/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature as the central metaphor that we want to work out from. Because I think literature occupies the same relationship to life that life occupies to death. A book is life with one dimension pulled out of it. And life is something that lacks a dimension which death will give it. I imagine death to be a kind of release into the imagination in the sense that for characters in a book, what we experience is an unimaginable dimension of freedom.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terence McKenna" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/terence-mckenna-287_book_i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-th_57212.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should…” — Terence McKenna", "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": "Terence McKenna", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I often like to think that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/#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 } } ] } ```