Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Experience comprises illusions lost, rather than wisdom gained.
—Philibert Joseph Roux (1780–1854) French Surgeon
Great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
In youth we feel richer for every new illusion; in maturer years, for every one we lose.
—Sophie Swetchine (1782–1857) Russian Mystic, Writer
An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted.
—Arthur Miller (1915–2005) American Playwright, Essayist
A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread.
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French Author
Artists use frauds to make human beings seem more wonderful than they really are. Dancers show us human beings who move much more gracefully than human beings really move. Films and books and plays show us people talking much more entertainingly than people.
—Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.
—Margaret J. Wheatley American Management Consultant, Writer
I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it… I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it’s an illusion to me. … Failure always made me try harder next time.
—Michael Jordan (b.1963) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A pleasant illusion is better than a harsh reality.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Illusions are the mirages of Hope
—Unknown
He who knows that this body s like froth, and has learnt that it is as unsubstantial as a mirage, will break the flower-pointed arrow of illusion, and never see the king of death.
—The Dhammapada Buddhist Anthology of Verses
The tricks of illusion came to him so easily that it seemed he had been born knowing them and needed only to be reminded
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b.1929) American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
They dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
For me, it is as though at every moment the actual world had completely lost its actuality. As though there was nothing there; as though there were no foundations for anything or as though it escaped us. Only one thing, however, is vividly present: the constant tearing of the veil of appearances; the constant destruction of everything in construction. Nothing holds together, everything falls apart.
—Eugene Ionesco (1909–94) Romanian-born French Dramatist
As an organizer I start from where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be
—Saul Alinsky (1909–72) American Community Organizer, Political Theorist
However, one cannot put a quart in a pint cup.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) American Feminist, Writer
Don’t believe your friends when they ask you to be honest with them. All they really want is to be maintained in the good opinion they have of themselves.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Lost Illusion is the undisclosed title of every novel.
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967) French Novelist, Biographer
Rob the average man of his illusion and you rob him of his happiness at one stroke.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
Time, space, the whole universe – just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It’s the ‘just’ which makes the honest mind go crazy and the ego go berserk.
—Hans Taeger
The one person who has more illusions than the dreamer is the man of action.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.
—Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English Novelist, Scriptwriter
Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
What difference is there, do you think, between those in Plato’s cave who can only marvel at the shadows and images of various objects, provided they are content and don’t know what they miss, and the philosopher who has emerged from the cave and sees the real things?
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
The highest problem of any art is to cause by appearance the illusion of a higher reality.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist