Unpublished notebook from 1845-50. Published in Seebacher (ed.), Oeuvres Complètes, vol. 10, p. 158 (Laffont, 1989). English translation from Robb, Victor Hugo p. 249 (Norton, 1997).
La raison, c'est l'intelligence en exercice; l'imagination c'est l'intelligence en érection
“Imagination is but another name for super intelligence.”
“Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.”
Foreword to The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1998) by David Pringle, ISBN 0-87951-937-1</small>, and The Definitive Illustrated Guide to Fantasy (2003) by David Pringle, <small> ISBN 1-84442-930-X
General sources
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.”
As quoted in the Introduction (by Siân Miles)
Source: Simone Weil : An Anthology (1986), p. 35
As reported by Alexander Polyhistor, and Diogenes Laërtius in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, "Pythagoras", Sect. 30, in the translation of C. D. Yonge (1853)
“Faith isn't an act of intelligence, it's an act of imagination.”
Source: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
“But intelligence and reason are able to go through everything that opposes them”
X, 33
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book X
Context: It is not given to a cylinder to move everywhere by its own motion, nor yet to water nor to fire nor to anything else which is governed by nature or an irrational soul, for the things which check them and stand in the way are many. But intelligence and reason are able to go through everything that opposes them, and in such manner as they are formed by nature and as they choose. Place before thy eyes this facility with which the reason will be carried through all things, as fire upwards, as a stone downwards, as a cylinder down an inclined surface, and seek for nothing further. For all other obstacles either affect the body only, which is a dead thing; or, except for opinion and the yielding of reason itself, they do not crush nor do any harm of any kind; for if they did, he who felt it would immediately become bad.
“It takes little intelligence to draw the obvious conclusion…”
“Especially if one is blessed with only the barest information concerning other lands and peoples.”
Book 1, Chapter 2 “The Pearl at the Heart of the World” (p. 138)
The Elric Cycle, The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
