Original artwork, not a still
Misattributed to Jules Verne
Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The sentence works as a one-line theory of science fiction: dreamers go first and engineers follow, with Verne's submarines and moon shot as proof. That tidy story is why it lands on posters, space-agency pages and graduation slides. Its wording keeps shifting between versions, a sign that it is a modern distillation of Verne's reputation rather than something he wrote.
Context reviewed
In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
This line is credited to Jules Verne everywhere, often with the claim that it comes from Around the World in Eighty Days, but no chapter or page is ever given and no source in Verne's books has been found. The European Space Agency cites a different wording with no source: whatever one man can imagine, other men will some day bring to pass. The earliest looser echo found here is a taped conversation, dated 28 July 1954 (date uncertain), in the Spencer Heath archive. Heath mentions a Reader's Digest piece on Verne's predictions and says one man can imagine what another can do. That is a paraphrase, not a Verne citation.
Sources (2)
- ESA: Jules Verneimage captionReference checked
- Spencer Heath Archive, Item 384: Biographical Note On Using Toolspassage on VerneReference checked
Context reviewed