When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room.
Tom WaitsRead
My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Reality and imagination are interconnected, each enhancing the other for a fuller experience of life.
This quote by Tom Waits illustrates the symbiotic relationship between reality and imagination, suggesting that just as a bulb cannot shine without a socket to provide power, our imaginative capabilities require the grounding of reality. Conversely, reality can be enriched and understood more deeply through the lens of imagination, akin to how a blind man relies on a cane for navigation and support in the physical world. The quote encourages us to recognize the importance of both elements in shaping our experiences and understanding of life.
Themes
ImaginationRealityRelationshipSupportUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of creativity in problem-solving.
More from Tom Waits
All quotes →If you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
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I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox.
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Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothing.
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Now its raining its pouring the old man is snoring now I lay me down to sleep I hear the sirens in the street all my dreams are made of chrome I have no way to get back home I’d rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make ‘em grow
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You can drive out nature with a pitch fork_x000D_ But it always comes roaring back again.
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