Full Idea
The imagination alone perceives; it forms an idea of all objects, with the words and figures that characterise them; thus the imagination is the soul, because it plays all its roles.
Gist of Idea
The imagination alone perceives all objects; it is the soul, playing all its roles
Source
Julien Offray de La Mettrie (Machine Man [1747], p.15)
Book Reference
La Mettrie,Julien Offray de: 'Machine Man and Other Writings', ed/tr. Thomson,Ann [CUP 1996], p.15
A Reaction
This is not just a big claim for the importance of imagination, in strong opposition to Descartes's rather dismissive view (Idea 1399), but also appears to be the germ of an interesting theory about the nature of personal identity.
Related Idea
Idea 1399 Imagination and sensation are non-essential to mind [Descartes]