--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The imagination loses vitality as it…" description: "\"The imagination loses vitality as it ceases to adhere to what is real. When it adheres to the unreal and intensifies what is unreal, while its first ef..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/wallace-stevens-846_cease_the-imagination-loses-vitality-as-it-cea_833321.jpg" --- # The imagination loses vitality as it ceases to adhere to… ![“The imagination loses vitality as it ceases to adhere to what is real. When it adheres to the unreal and intensifies what is unreal, while its first effect may be extraordinary, that effect is the maximum effect that it will ever have.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/wallace-stevens-846_cease_the-imagination-loses-vitality-as-it-cea_833321.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/wallace-stevens-846_cease_the-imagination-loses-vitality-as-it-cea_833321.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/wallace-stevens-846_cease_the-imagination-loses-vitality-as-it-cea_833321.jpg) > “The imagination loses vitality as it ceases to adhere to what is real. When it adheres to the unreal and intensifies what is unreal, while its first effect may be extraordinary, that effect is the maximum effect that it will ever have.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When imagination stops grounding itself in reality, it becomes trapped in illusion, limiting its impact to a fleeting peak. **In simple terms:** Imagination must stay linked to reality to stay powerful. Key Takeaway Keep imagination anchored in real experience. Themes creativity reality illusion Mood reflective thoughtful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - writing - visual arts - problem solving - innovation - personal growth Key Concepts philosophy psychology artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance imagination with practical constraints? - What real-world feedback helps ground your ideas? A Different Perspective Excessive detachment can lead to escapism and loss of relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) [Effect Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effect-extraordinary-577316/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-loses-577313/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Loses Vitality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses-vitality-577315/) [Maximum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maximum/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Unreal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreal/) [Unreal Effect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreal-effect-577314/) [Vitality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vitality/) ## Related quotes > [The imagination loses vitality as it ceases to adhere to what is real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-imagination-loses-vitality-as-it-ceases-to-adhere-to-what-is-real-2/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I like to have a thing suggested rather than told in full. When every detail is given, the mind rests satisfied, and the imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/i-like-to-have-a-thing-suggested-rather-than-told-in-full-when-every/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [“... unreal things have a reality of their own, in poetry as elsewhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unreal-things-have-a-reality-of-their-own-in-poetry-as-elsewhere/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [New York is a field of tireless and antagonistic interests undoubtedly fascinating but horribly unreal. Everybody is looking at everybody else a foolish crowd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/new-york-is-a-field-of-tireless-and-antagonistic-interests/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Metaphor creates a new reality from which the original appears to be unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/metaphor-creates-a-new-reality-from-which-the-original-appears-to-be/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Everybody is looking at everybody else a foolish crowd walking on mirrors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/everybody-is-looking-at-everybody-else-a-foolish-crowd-walking-on/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The abstract, unreal freedom of the liberal intellect was really nothing more than childish disobedience, amplified into anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-abstract-unreal-freedom-of-the-liberal-intellect-was-really/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [ \[Composers\] Mark \[Shaiman\] and Scott \[Wittman\] are unreal ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-hilty/composers-mark-shaiman-and-scott-wittman-are-unreal/) [Megan Hilty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-hilty/) > [Since things neither exist nor do not exist, are neither real nor unreal, are utterly beyond adopting and rejecting - one might as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/since-things-neither-exist-nor-do-not-exist-are-neither-real-nor/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No sane person wants hell to exist. No sane person wants evil to exist. But hell is just evil eternalized. If there is evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/no-sane-person-wants-hell-to-exist-no-sane-person-wants-evil-to-exist/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [Any great and inspiring leader or organization that ever existed set out to do something completely unrealistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/any-great-and-inspiring-leader-or-organization-that-ever-existed-set/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [the wide discrepancy between reason and feeling may be unreal; it is not improbable that intellect is a high form of feeling - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-katherina-langer/the-wide-discrepancy-between-reason-and-feeling-may-be-unreal-it-is/) [Susanne Katherina Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-katherina-langer/) > [Since the past is unreal and the future is unreal, all your thoughts are about nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/since-the-past-is-unreal-and-the-future-is-unreal-all-your-thoughts/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [We take that which is unreal to be real and that which is real to be unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-spira/we-take-that-which-is-unreal-to-be-real-and-that-which-is-real-to-be/) [Rupert Spira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-spira/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More Cease quotes > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In the name of Jerusalem. If I forget the extermination of the Jews, may my right hand wither, may my tongue stick to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-begin/in-the-name-of-jerusalem-if-i-forget-the-extermination-of-the-jews/) [Menachem Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-begin/) > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Metallica's the only band i've ever been in. I'm not sure that when it ends in five, ten years, I'm going to put an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-ulrich/metallica-s-the-only-band-i-ve-ever-been-in-i-m-not-sure-that-when-it/) [Lars Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-ulrich/) > [Cease speaking of enemies when an achievement can kindle a great light. Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/) [Nicholas Roerich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-roerich/) > [Without a function, we cease to be. So, I will write till I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farley-mowat/without-a-function-we-cease-to-be-so-i-will-write-till-i-die/) [Farley Mowat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farley-mowat/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [My child, seek those things which make for peace. Cease to stir up the King against the Church, and urge upon him a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-child-seek-those-things-which-make-for-peace-cease-to-stir-up-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When fear ceases to scare you, it cannot stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/when-fear-ceases-to-scare-you-it-cannot-stay/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [He who ceases to pray ceases to prosper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurney-benham/he-who-ceases-to-pray-ceases-to-prosper/) [William Gurney Benham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurney-benham/) > [For we must share, if we would keep, that blessing from above; ceasing to give, we cease to have; such is the law of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/for-we-must-share-if-we-would-keep-that-blessing-from-above-ceasing/) [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) > [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) [Browse all 1,358 Cease quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The imagination loses vitality as it ceases to adhere to what is real. 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