--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I have been given any gift in this…" description: "\"“If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my ability to live simultaneously in the rational world and the world of imagination.”\" — Tom Robbins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg" --- # If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my… ![“If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my ability to live simultaneously in the rational world and the world of imagination.” quote by Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg) > ““If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my ability to live simultaneously in the rational world and the world of imagination.”” [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He values the capacity to balance logical thinking with creative imagination, seeing both as essential to a full life. **In simple terms:** Balancing logic and imagination enriches life. Key Takeaway Cultivate both rational and imaginative habits. Themes creativity logic balance Mood inspired reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - problem solving - artistic creation - personal growth - decision making Key Concepts dualism cognitive flexibility Questions to Reflect On - How do you practice both worlds daily? - What benefits arise from this balance? A Different Perspective Rational thinking may limit imaginative risk‑taking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir/) ## Related quotes > [Now I no longer live in our clear, rational world; I live in the ancient nightmare world, the world of square roots of minus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/now-i-no-longer-live-in-our-clear-rational-world-i-live-in-the/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Every sane person has to find every day some manner of accommodating the impossible, some way of covering up for the failures of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-boswell/every-sane-person-has-to-find-every-day-some-manner-of-accommodating/) [Robert Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-boswell/) > [... there is no such thing as a rational world and a separate irrational world, but only one world containing both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-rational-world-and-a-separate-irrational/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [A wise man has told us that "men are once for all so made that they prefer a rational world to believe in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/a-wise-man-has-told-us-that-men-are-once-for-all-so-made-that-they/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [“Western man has tried for too many centuries to fool himself that he lives in a rational world. No. There's a story about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/western-man-has-tried-for-too-many-centuries-to-fool-himself-that-he/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“Can’t you see? It’s incredibly interesting. Aren’t you struck by how much action occurred simply because something went wrong with one man’s brain? It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/can-t-you-see-it-s-incredibly-interesting-aren-t-you-struck-by-how/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [It is ... through the world of the imagination which takes us beyond the restrictions of provable fact, that we touch the hem of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/it-is-through-the-world-of-the-imagination-which-takes-us-beyond-the/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. 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I became a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wyeth/i-surrendered-to-a-world-of-my-imagination-reenacting-all-those/) [Andrew Wyeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wyeth/) > [Creativity and the world of the imagination - the beauty of what we see as a child and the kind of play that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-paulus/creativity-and-the-world-of-the-imagination-the-beauty-of-what-we-see/) [Diane Paulus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-paulus/) ## More by Tom Robbins > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred. Ha Ha Ho Ho Hee Hee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-believe-in-everything-nothing-is-sacred-i-believe-in-nothing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [A sense of humor...is superior to any religion so far devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/a-sense-of-humor-is-superior-to-any-religion-so-far-devised/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. 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It is not merely the opium of the masses, it is the cyanide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/religion-is-a-paramount-contributor-to-human-misery-it-is-not-merely/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/she-continued-weeping-until-the-heat-of-her-tear-water-the-sheer/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Virtually every advancement made by our species since civilization first peeked out of its nest of stone has been initiated by lone individuals, mavericks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/virtually-every-advancement-made-by-our-species-since-civilization/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/when-we-accept-small-wonders-we-qualify-ourselves-to-imagine-great/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Explore all 994 Tom Robbins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [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/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my ability to live simultaneously in the rational world and the world of imagination.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Robbins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-life-it-s-my-ability-to-live/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-life-it-s-my-ability-to-live/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/tom-robbins-169_imagination_if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-li_506009.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If I have been given any gift in this life, it’s my ability to live simultaneously in the rational world and…” — Tom Robbins", "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": "Tom Robbins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If I have been given any...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-life-it-s-my-ability-to-live/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/if-i-have-been-given-any-gift-in-this-life-it-s-my-ability-to-live/#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 } } ] } ```