A woman should be an illusion.
—Ian L. Fleming (1908–64) English Novelist, Journalist, Naval Intelligence Officer
For every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce life early, and the human race come to an end.
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-born British Novelist
An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted.
—Arthur Miller (1915–2005) American Playwright, Essayist
Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.
—Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English Novelist, Scriptwriter
Illusion is the first of the pleasures.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
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
Half the work that is done in this world is to make things appear what they are not.
—Elias Root Beadle (1812–65) American Clergyman
The one person who has more illusions than the dreamer is the man of action.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
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
I have, alas, only one illusion left, and that is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.
—Arthur Koestler (1905–83) British Writer, Journalist, Political Refugee
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
Illusions are art, for the feeling person, and it is by art that we live, if we do
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
Lost Illusion is the undisclosed title of every novel.
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967) French Novelist, Biographer
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
We always think every other man’s job is easier than our own. The better he does it, the easier it looks.
—Eden Phillpotts (1862–1960) English Novelist, Dramatist, Poet
Belief in the absence of illusions is itself an illusion.
—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002) American Journalist, Essayist, Memoirist, Travel Writer
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
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
It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in contact with the real they are bruised and wounded.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires—desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
If you can talk brilliantly about a problem, it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered.
—Stanley Kubrick (1928–99) American Film Director, Writer, Film Producer, Photographer
If a fox is unable to befriend a tiger, then the fox should create an illusion of close association with the tiger by carefully trailing behind the cat while boasting of the deep friendship they share. In this way, he creates an impression that his well being is of great concern to the tiger.
—Chin-Ning Chu (1917–2000) American Poet , Writer
A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread.
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French Novelist, Polemicist
I didn’t know there were so many gay people out there. Everywhere, they turn up. More importantly, I think I’m amazed how people everywhere have had the sensitivity to want to get into the complexity of the issue, the probability of love, the illusion of love, all those things. It’s not simple things you can categorize as right or wrong.
—Ang Lee (b.1954) Taiwanese Film Director, Screenwriter
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
—Saul Bellow (1915–2005) Canadian-American Novelist
What we gain by experience is not worth that we lose in illusion.
—Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792–1870) French-Swiss Lyric Poet
We must select the Illusion which appeals to our temperament and embrace it with passion, if we want to be happy.
—Cyril Connolly (1903–74) British Literary Critic, Writer
What seems to be, is, to those to whom it seems to be, and is productive of the most dreadful consequences to those to whom it seems to be, even of torments, despair, eternal death.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
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