reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Reality is often more surprising and unusual than what we can think of

Examples

The plot twist in the movie reminded me that reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine” mean?

Reality is often more surprising and unusual than what we can think of

Is “reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.