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
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
We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
Belief in the absence of illusions is itself an illusion.
—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002) American Journalist, Essayist, Memoirist, Travel Writer
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
Emotional attachment to Maya is created by my God; He Himself misleads us through illusion and doubt.
—The Guru Granth Sahib Sacred Text of Sikhism
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
People who have realized that this is a dream imagine that it is easy to wake up, and are angry with those who continue sleeping, not considering that the whole world that environs them does not permit them to wake. Life proceeds as a series of optical illusions, artificial needs and imaginary sensations.
—Alexander Herzen (1812–70) Russian Revolutionary, Writer
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
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
There is no such thing as real happiness in life. The justest definition that was ever given of it was “a tranquil acquiescence under an agreeable delusion”—I forget where.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted.
—Arthur Miller (1915–2005) American Playwright, Essayist
I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure.
—John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874–1960) American Philanthropist, Businessperson
All that we see or seen is but a dream within a dream.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
Pray look better, Sir… those things yonder are no giants, but windmills.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
What we gain by experience is not worth that we lose in illusion.
—Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792–1870) Swiss Poet
Time is indeed the theater and seat of illusions; nothing is so ductile and elastic. The mind stretches an hour to a century, and dwarfs an age to an hour.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
—Saul Bellow (1915–2005) Canadian-American Novelist
A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread.
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French Author
We cast away priceless time in dreams, born of imagination, fed upon illusion, and put to death by reality.
—Judy Garland (1922–69) American Actress, Singer
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
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
Illusions are the mirages of Hope
—Unknown
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
It isn’t safe to sit in judgment upon another person’s illusion when you are not on the inside. While you are thinking it is a dream, he may be knowing it is a planet.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
They dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. The bamboozle has captured us. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back
—Carl Sagan (1934–96) American Astronomer
How strange when an illusion dies, it’s as though you’ve lost a child.
—Judy Garland (1922–69) American Actress, Singer
Every generous illusion of youth leaves a wrinkle as it departs. Experience is the successive disenchanting of the things of life; it is reason enriched with the heart’s spoils.
—Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792–1870) Swiss Poet
Experience comprises illusions lost, rather than wisdom gained.
—Philibert Joseph Roux (1780–1854) French Surgeon