"I still have a photo on my wall of the greatest idol I will ever have in my life, and it's myself at eight. Because that's when the forces of imagination have the same value as the real world, when they're an instrument of survival: when my mother disappeared, and I imagined a mother. That was me at my best.“


-Henning Mankell

posted in imagination


I still have a photo on my wall of the greatest idol I will ever have in my life, and it's myself at eight. Because that's when the forces of imagination have the same value as the real world, when they're an instrument of survival: when my mother disappeared, and I imagined a mother. That was me at my best.

Other Quotes You Might Like

Discover more inspiring quotes from our collection

"Normally street children are shown in terms of the tragedy of their lives - which is true - but there's also another dimension: their wisdom, dignity and enormous capacity for survival."

-Henning Mankell

wisdomView Quote
"I am fascinated by all the new technology that creates places for us to meet in what is called cyberspace. I understand what it must have meant for the rebellions in the 19th century, especially in 1830 and 1848, when the mass circulated newspaper became so important for the spreading of information."

-Henning Mankell

technologyView Quote
"I work in an old tradition that goes back to the ancient Greeks. You hold a mirror to crime to see what's happening in society. I could never write a crime story just for the sake of it, because I always want to talk about certain things in society."

-Henning Mankell

societyView Quote
"Sweden is still a very peaceful country to live in. I think that people in Britain have created this mythology about Sweden, that it's a perfect democratic society full of erotically charged girls."

-Henning Mankell

societyView Quote
"Many people say I smile more in Africa than in Sweden."

-Henning Mankell

smileView Quote
"The wonderful Mozambican people have endured tremendous misery without losing their dignity and their positive outlook on life. Moreover, they have not lost their will to progress and develop. Mozambique is a country where the people never surrendered."

-Henning Mankell

positiveView Quote

More Quotes About imagination

Explore other inspiring quotes in this category

"Television contracts the imagination and radio expands it."

-Terry Wogan

imaginationView Quote
"Imagination is not something apart and hermetic, not a way of leaving reality behind it is a way of engaging reality."

-Irving Howe

imaginationView Quote
"Personality is more important than beauty, but imagination is more important than both of them."

-Laurette Taylor

imaginationView Quote
"With the brush we merely tint, while the imagination alone produces colour."

-Theodore Gericault

imaginationView Quote
"Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination."

-Lionel Stander

imaginationView Quote
"One lifetime is never enough to accomplish one's horticultural goals. If a garden is a site for the imagination, how can we be very far from the beginning?"

-Francis Cabot Lowell

imaginationView Quote