--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we call imagination is actually the…" description: "\"What we call imagination is actually the universal library of what's real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real somewhere, sometime.\" — Terence M..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/terence-mckenna-287_ifs_what-we-call-imagination-is-actually-the_2268982.png" --- # What we call imagination is actually the universal library… ![“What we call imagination is actually the universal library of what's real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real somewhere, sometime.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/terence-mckenna-287_ifs_what-we-call-imagination-is-actually-the_2268982.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/terence-mckenna-287_ifs_what-we-call-imagination-is-actually-the_2268982.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/terence-mckenna-287_ifs_what-we-call-imagination-is-actually-the_2268982.png) > “What we call imagination is actually the universal library of what's real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real somewhere, sometime.” [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. Imagination reflects reality; our mind accesses a vast, unseen repository of actual possibilities. **In simple terms:** Imagination mirrors real possibilities. Key Takeaway Explore ideas as if they already exist. Themes creativity perception reality knowledge Mood curious inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - artistic brainstorming - scientific hypothesis generation - personal growth Key Concepts philosophy psychology metaphysics Questions to Reflect On - How does your imagination shape your perception of reality? - What unseen possibilities might you be overlooking? A Different Perspective Imagination can be limited by cultural conditioning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Real you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-you/) ## Related quotes > [What we call three dimensional space, and what we call the imagination actually have a contiguous and continuous transformation from one into the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-we-call-three-dimensional-space-and-what-we-call-the-imagination/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Imagination is actually a form of computation. Imagination gives calculated and instinctive solutions for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/imagination-is-actually-a-form-of-computation-imagination-gives/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [It's beyond imagination until you actually get up and see it and experience it and feel it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-mccool/it-s-beyond-imagination-until-you-actually-get-up-and-see-it-and/) William C. McCool > [I learned that I could control my life. You are the master of your fate. . . you are the captain of your soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/i-learned-that-i-could-control-my-life-you-are-the-master-of-your/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [... semantics ... is a sober and modest discipline which has no pretensions of being a universal patent-medicine for all the ills and diseases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-tarski/semantics-is-a-sober-and-modest-discipline-which-has-no-pretensions/) [Alfred Tarski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-tarski/) > [The shelves of books we haven't written, like those of books we haven't read, stretches out into the darkness of the universal library's farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-shelves-of-books-we-haven-t-written-like-those-of-books-we-haven/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Talk about a dream, try to make it real. You wake up in the night with a fear so real. Spend your life waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/talk-about-a-dream-try-to-make-it-real-you-wake-up-in-the-night-with/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [Every prayer is an agreement with yourself. The mind is asking the real you, which is life, to guide your decisions for every single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/every-prayer-is-an-agreement-with-yourself-the-mind-is-asking-the/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [You once liked the blissful mobility, but then you wonder, who's the real you? And who's the chap on the screen? You know, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-flynn/you-once-liked-the-blissful-mobility-but-then-you-wonder-who-s-the/) [Errol Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-flynn/) > [The things to do are: the things that need doing: that you see need to be done, and that no one else seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-things-to-do-are-the-things-that-need-doing-that-you-see-need-to/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [It is your causal body that is the real you. At the end of each incarnation, it carries the knowledge and karmic patterns of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-your-causal-body-that-is-the-real-you-at-the-end-of-each/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [There is a wonderful expression: seeing through a glass darkly. Everything, even life, is inevitably removed from you. You can't reach, or touch, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/there-is-a-wonderful-expression-seeing-through-a-glass-darkly/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [Playing somebody who's real, you can bring all kind of nuances and things to him that you get from source material and things like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-mackie/playing-somebody-who-s-real-you-can-bring-all-kind-of-nuances-and/) [Anthony Mackie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-mackie/) > [The real you is on the side of God against the false self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/the-real-you-is-on-the-side-of-god-against-the-false-self/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [Fame terrifies me. I can say that with honesty. You're terrified that, when people know the real you, they won't like you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-cox/fame-terrifies-me-i-can-say-that-with-honesty-you-re-terrified-that/) [Charlie Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-cox/) ## 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/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [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/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What we call imagination is actually the universal library of what's real. 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