"We forget that what matters begins with the imagination"
About this Quote
Brooks is sneaking a manifesto into a sentence that sounds like a gentle reminder. The line pivots on a quiet accusation: we forget. Not "we don't know" or "we can't", but we lapse. In a culture that treats imagination as a soft hobby (a childhood phase, a genre shelf, a distraction from "real" work), he reframes it as the first domino in anything consequential. What matters begins there: before policy, before invention, before a relationship survives its first disappointment, someone has to picture an alternative to the default.
The intent is defensive and insurgent at once. As a fantasy writer long asked to justify dragons and quests against the supposed seriousness of realism, Brooks elevates the faculty that fantasy is often dismissed for celebrating. Subtext: stop confusing cynicism with maturity. The sentence flatters the reader into complicity while challenging them to notice the ways modern life trains imagination out of us, replacing possibility with metrics, risk management, and "best practices."
The rhetoric is doing work, too. "Begins" is the key verb: imagination is positioned not as escape but as origin. It implies a chain of causality - imagination to intention to action - without preaching it. That makes the quote durable across contexts: creativity in art, empathy in politics, resilience in private life. Brooks is arguing that imagination is not an ornament on meaning; it's the engine that manufactures meaning in the first place.
The intent is defensive and insurgent at once. As a fantasy writer long asked to justify dragons and quests against the supposed seriousness of realism, Brooks elevates the faculty that fantasy is often dismissed for celebrating. Subtext: stop confusing cynicism with maturity. The sentence flatters the reader into complicity while challenging them to notice the ways modern life trains imagination out of us, replacing possibility with metrics, risk management, and "best practices."
The rhetoric is doing work, too. "Begins" is the key verb: imagination is positioned not as escape but as origin. It implies a chain of causality - imagination to intention to action - without preaching it. That makes the quote durable across contexts: creativity in art, empathy in politics, resilience in private life. Brooks is arguing that imagination is not an ornament on meaning; it's the engine that manufactures meaning in the first place.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Brooks, Terry. (2026, January 17). We forget that what matters begins with the imagination. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-forget-that-what-matters-begins-with-the-78463/
Chicago Style
Brooks, Terry. "We forget that what matters begins with the imagination." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-forget-that-what-matters-begins-with-the-78463/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We forget that what matters begins with the imagination." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-forget-that-what-matters-begins-with-the-78463/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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