"--FEUCHT ERSLEBEN.
Imagination is that power of the mind by which it forms pictures or
images within itself. Thought is but a shapeless, lifeless entity, until
Imagination moulds it into form. We cannot bring what we know out into
life until Imagination presents it to the Affections as a possible
reality. Thought is an uncreative power, and gives form to nothing.
Imagination is a more positive power, and can impart form to everything
in thought. Thought acts subjectively, while Imagination is more
objective in its operations. Thought is, by itself, a pure abstraction:
passing into the Imagination it becomes a possible reality, and in the
Affections a vital reality. The Affections cannot love or hate anything
while it is a mere Thought; but when it becomes an image, it is at
once an object either of attraction or repulsion. Thought, therefore,
can be lifted up into the Affections, and then be made manifest in life,
only through the medium of the Imagination.
It has been remarked by a celebrated writer, that all great discoverers,
inventors, and mathematicians have been largely endowed with
Imagination. It might with equal truth have been added, that all
successful persons in every department of life are endowed with an
Imagination commensurate in power with that of the other faculties. To
the mechanic in his shop, no less than to the student in his cell, is it
requisite that he should be able to form a distinct image in his mind
of whatever he wishes to perform.
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