Imagination will always prevail over knowledge to create what is most important—faith in the future and a willingness to break free from the known. Once an individual accepts the uncertainty that imagination brings, he or she will have the potential to rise to new heights and achieve personal successes that benefit the forward motion of mankind.

Successful people often place a great deal of faith in their future. An example of this is Charlie from the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the novel, Charlie reimagines what his future could hold if he finds one of Willy Wonka’s Golden Tickets, a rare prize that can bring great rewards to the finder. Despite Charlie’s meager existence, he imagines a better future for himself even though he knows the odds of finding a Golden Ticket are small. After being invited into Wonka’s factory, Charlie often shuns disbelief in favor of participating in Wonka’s wildly imaginative escapades.

During the tour of the factory, Charlie is willing to break free from what he knows and places his faith in Wonka. Recognizing this, Wonka takes Charlie on the final part of the tour—the glass elevator. Even though the elevator ride is chaotic and turbulent, Charlie is more than willing to continue because he has faith for what is in store for him. Once the glass elevator breaks through the top of Wonka’s factory, Charlie is rewarded for his dedication to imagination as Wonka bestows the factory to him.

Charlie serves as an example to how imagination will always prevail over knowledge. His ability to put his faith in the future as well as his willingness to break free from the known allows him to rise to greater achievements. Anyone who casts aside a reliance upon what is current and known & instead acts upon their imagination shall achieve remarkable success that will benefit all.