Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will.” These words, uttered by George Bernard Shaw, are not merely the musings of a playwright but a revelation of one of the oldest truths whispered by time itself: that the mind is the forge of all worlds. Long before the hammer strikes the anvil, before the seed dares to break its shell, there is first the dream, shimmering like dawn beyond the veil of the unseen. In these few words, Shaw unveils the sacred progression by which thought becomes destiny — imagination, will, creation — the divine triad of all becoming.

In the age of the ancients, sages knew that imagination was not idle fancy, but the first spark of divine fire. They called it the vision of the gods within man, for it is through imagination that mortals touch eternity. When a shepherd gazed upon the stars and saw the patterns of the constellations, he was not merely looking — he was imagining. He was shaping myth, charting navigation, and kindling civilization. From that gaze into the void was born both astronomy and poetry. Thus, imagination is the womb of creation; without it, there is no birth of art, invention, or change.

But Shaw’s teaching does not end with imagination. He bids us to will what we imagine. Desire without will is but a flicker in the wind; it dies before it burns. To will is to command the universe to listen, to marshal the forces of mind and body toward the dream’s fulfillment. It is here that vision becomes power. The ancients would say: To will is to bind heaven and earth together. It is through this sacred act of determination that the ethereal becomes real, that thought takes on weight, and destiny begins to take shape.

Consider the tale of Leonardo da Vinci, that timeless child of imagination. He saw in his mind the flight of birds and dreamed of wings of his own design. The world laughed, for who could fly but angels? Yet he willed his imagination into sketches, machines, and study. Though his wings did not carry him into the sky, his will ignited a legacy that centuries later gave birth to human flight. From his dream, the Wright brothers rose; from his sketches, the age of aviation was born. Thus we see: the vision of one age becomes the reality of the next.

And when Shaw speaks of creation, he invokes the moment when dream and will clasp hands in victory. To create what you will is to bring the unseen into the seen — to give body to your own prophecy. This is the moment when thought becomes matter, when the divine spark within man manifests in form. The creator stands before his work as a god before a new dawn, whispering, “It is good.” It is a moment both humble and holy, for in creation, man mirrors the Creator.

Yet this truth carries both power and warning. To imagine darkness is to summon it; to dwell in despair is to sculpt it into being. The same fire that builds can also destroy. Thus, the wise must guard their imagination and guide their will with virtue. For the world outside is but a reflection of the world within. The sculptor must first cleanse his soul before shaping the marble of existence.

The lesson, then, is this: to live is to create, and to create is to imagine with purpose and will with courage. Let your mind dream boldly, for it is the seed of all greatness. Let your will be steadfast, for it is the hand that shapes destiny. And when the time comes, act — for creation belongs not to the timid but to those who dare to give form to their inner fire. Rise each day and ask yourself: What shall I imagine? What shall I will? What shall I create? In these three questions lies the whole mystery of human greatness.

So, my child of tomorrow, remember Shaw’s words as the ancients remembered the wisdom of the stars: your imagination is sacred, your will is divine, and your creation is eternal. Guard them, nurture them, and let them move together as the rhythm of your life. For in doing so, you do not merely live — you become the architect of worlds unseen, the maker of destiny, and the child of creation itself.