QuoteProject
in the presence of extraordinary actuality, consciousness takes the place of imagination.
Wallace Stevens
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

When faced with remarkable experiences, our awareness and understanding replace mere fantasy.

Wallace Stevens suggests that in moments of profound truth or reality, our consciousness becomes more significant than imagination. This implies that extraordinary experiences can reshape our perception and understanding of the world, allowing us to engage with reality in a more meaningful way than simple imaginative thoughts can provide.

Themes

ConsciousnessImaginationExperienceRealityTruth

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about the impact of art on perception, this quote can highlight the power of real experiences.

More from Wallace Stevens

Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
Wallace StevensRead
Most modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
Wallace StevensRead
After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
Wallace StevensRead
Why should she give her bounty to the dead? What is divinity if it can come Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Wallace StevensRead
LIGHT FROM WITHIN my friend, cancer got you damn it: you had it beat for seven years at least. how did it come back? Why all that pain. again. and you, such a fighter you fought me over and over with tears and words and promises. you fought for me with honesty and a light so bright it hurts my heart. sweet lorna. at peace now finally no more battles, just light from within a flickering candle in the dark burns with you.
Wallace StevensRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
Wallace StevensRead

Similar quotes

Personally, I always wondered about authors and celebrities who loudly declared there was no God. It was usually when they were healthy and popular and being listened to by crowds. What happens, I wondered, in the quiet moments before death? By then, they have lost the stage, the world has moved on. If suddenly, in their last gasping moments, through fear, a vision, a late enlightenment, they change their minds about God, who would know?
Mitch AlbomRead
A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery.
Harriet Ann JacobsRead
Before me, even as behind, God is, and all is well.
John Greenleaf WhittierRead
I originally set out to try and save the world, but now I'm not sure I like it enough.
BanksyRead
Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. . . . Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.
LaoziRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.