--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From where inspiration comes, I don’t…" description: "\"“From where inspiration comes, I don’t know. But that we seek fulfillment in a companion suggests we desire an object onto which we may project our gra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/tom-fahy-37551_gratitude_from-where-inspiration-comes-i-don-t-kno_1854289.jpg" --- # From where inspiration comes, I don’t know. But that we… ![“From where inspiration comes, I don’t know. But that we seek fulfillment in a companion suggests we desire an object onto which we may project our gratitude. Many of these objects do not transcend the imagination . . . nor do they need to.” quote by Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/tom-fahy-37551_gratitude_from-where-inspiration-comes-i-don-t-kno_1854289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/tom-fahy-37551_gratitude_from-where-inspiration-comes-i-don-t-kno_1854289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/tom-fahy-37551_gratitude_from-where-inspiration-comes-i-don-t-kno_1854289.jpg) > ““From where inspiration comes, I don’t know. But that we seek fulfillment in a companion suggests we desire an object onto which we may project our gratitude. Many of these objects do not transcend the imagination . . . nor do they need to.”” [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Inspiration is mysterious; we project gratitude onto companions, but these projections need not be transcendent. **In simple terms:** We project gratitude onto others. Key Takeaway Recognize projection. Themes inspiration gratitude projection Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - creative work - friendship - therapy - spiritual practice Key Concepts psychology philosophy relationships Questions to Reflect On - What do you truly thank in others? - How does projection affect authenticity? A Different Perspective May undervalue deeper spiritual connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) ## Related quotes > [The word desire suggests that there is something we do not have. If we have everything already, then there can be no desire, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-word-desire-suggests-that-there-is-something-we-do-not-have-if-we/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [If you're going to perform inception, you need imagination. You need the simplest version of the idea-the one that will grow naturally in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nolan/if-you-re-going-to-perform-inception-you-need-imagination-you-need/) [Christopher Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nolan/) > [“Imagination need not stand as an obstacle to clear-sighted perception; on the contrary, it can be a prerequisite for recognition of the less obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/imagination-need-not-stand-as-an-obstacle-to-clear-sighted-perception/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [“I didn't know the value of creation until I did it. Once I tasted imagination, I knew that I was trapped. I knew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-suggs/i-didn-t-know-the-value-of-creation-until-i-did-it-once-i-tasted/) [Lionel Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-suggs/) > [This fact was something I also learned from this first novel that I needed personal experience to invent, to fantasize, to create fiction, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/this-fact-was-something-i-also-learned-from-this-first-novel-that-i/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [If you want to be free with your imagination, you need to be very realistic, but you have also to shift things a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-rohrwacher/if-you-want-to-be-free-with-your-imagination-you-need-to-be-very/) [Alice Rohrwacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-rohrwacher/) > [I was allowed to have an imagination rather than a need to be entertained all the time by television or computers or anything like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-dunst/i-was-allowed-to-have-an-imagination-rather-than-a-need-to-be/) [Kirsten Dunst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-dunst/) > [As long as you have imagination, you never need to work. You never get bored. You could just walk around and go to museums…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-mckay/as-long-as-you-have-imagination-you-never-need-to-work-you-never-get/) [Nellie McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-mckay/) > [In the marketing society, we seek fulfillment but settle for abundance. Prisoners of plenty, we have the freedom to consume instead of our freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-hamilton/in-the-marketing-society-we-seek-fulfillment-but-settle-for-abundance/) [Clive Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-hamilton/) > [“What a privilege and opportunity it is to utterly come to the end of one's hope-not only to run out of answers, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-anders/what-a-privilege-and-opportunity-it-is-to-utterly-come-to-the-end-of/) [Max Anders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-anders/) > [You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love, all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valmiki/you-cannot-count-on-the-physical-proximity-of-someone-you-love-all/) [Valmiki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valmiki/) > [I think that in the past, in the '50s and '60s, after the existentialists and beatniks and hippie movements, the big deal was, Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/i-think-that-in-the-past-in-the-50s-and-60s-after-the-existentialists/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [The Master doesn't seek fulfillment. For only those who are not full are able to be used which brings the feeling of completeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-master-doesn-t-seek-fulfillment-for-only-those-who-are-not-full/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [To seek fulfillment is to invite frustration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/to-seek-fulfillment-is-to-invite-frustration/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [As long as anyone believes that his ideal and purpose is outside him, that it is above the clouds, in the past or in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/as-long-as-anyone-believes-that-his-ideal-and-purpose-is-outside-him/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) ## More by Tom Fahy > [“Desert this mad and unfounded obsession with the so-called truth. In pursuit of truth, you are guaranteed a long and perilous run through a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/desert-this-mad-and-unfounded-obsession-with-the-so-called-truth-in/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“That cruelty is part of nature is the little lie. That cruelty is part of human nature is the big one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/that-cruelty-is-part-of-nature-is-the-little-lie-that-cruelty-is-part/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“Because it is a curious challenge for western man to distinguish between aristocracy and plutocracy, it will be his unhappy fate to struggle under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/because-it-is-a-curious-challenge-for-western-man-to-distinguish/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“Play both sides against the middle and the middle against itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/play-both-sides-against-the-middle-and-the-middle-against-itself/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“The information manager must work assiduously to synthesize a truth. Then, in order to flourish, that truth must come under intense and prolonged persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/the-information-manager-must-work-assiduously-to-synthesize-a-truth/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“I only listen for one knell — the knell of Rationalism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/i-only-listen-for-one-knell-the-knell-of-rationalism/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“It remains the hidden aim of democracy to supplant what is national, spiritual, integrating, and paternal with a chimerical system that is at once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/it-remains-the-hidden-aim-of-democracy-to-supplant-what-is-national/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“If you want to bury an idea, personify it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/if-you-want-to-bury-an-idea-personify-it/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“If there is a cause that he wishes to sabotage, it is an ineluctable fact that the information manager must first feign to support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/if-there-is-a-cause-that-he-wishes-to-sabotage-it-is-an-ineluctable/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“There is a special kind of moral support that a man craves from his peers. If he doesn’t get it, a man has two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/there-is-a-special-kind-of-moral-support-that-a-man-craves-from-his/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) > [“Nothing is more virtuous, and therefore more precious, than to be able to deny cake. But I contend that there is something unseemly about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-fahy/nothing-is-more-virtuous-and-therefore-more-precious-than-to-be-able/) [Tom Fahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) [Explore all 12 Tom Fahy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-fahy/) ## More Gratitude quotes > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [“A treacherous President stood in the way; and it can be easily seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-treacherous-president-stood-in-the-way-and-it-can-be-easily-seen/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [I listen to heavy metal thanks to my son. When I argue with him on the kind of music he is listening to, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeenat-aman/i-listen-to-heavy-metal-thanks-to-my-son-when-i-argue-with-him-on-the/) [Zeenat Aman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeenat-aman/) > [“Thanks for teaching us to talk. Thanks for teaching us to be of the world and in the world and to make our way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-isay/thanks-for-teaching-us-to-talk-thanks-for-teaching-us-to-be-of-the/) [Dave Isay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-isay/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I want to thank each and every one of you for having extinguished yourselves this session.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gib-lewis/i-want-to-thank-each-and-every-one-of-you-for-having-extinguished/) [Gib Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gib-lewis/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Be in a state of gratitude for everything that shows up in your life. Be thankful for the storms as well as the smooth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/be-in-a-state-of-gratitude-for-everything-that-shows-up-in-your-life/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“Good Seeds! Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude that has no Substitute.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-kelvin-clive/good-seeds-gratitude-is-the-greatest-attitude-that-has-no-substitute/) [Bernard Kelvin Clive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-kelvin-clive/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-man-though-idiotic-and-knowing-not-what-he-does-yet-full-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Browse all 9,111 Gratitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From where inspiration comes, I don’t know. 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