The illusion that times that were are better than those that are, has probably pervaded all ages. ~ Horace Greeley

The visible universe was an illusion or, more precisely, a sophism. Mirrors and fatherhood are abominable because they multiply it and extend it. ~ Jorge Luis Borges

When one illusion vanishes, another shall appear, and, still leading me forward towards an horizon that retreats as I advance, the happy prospect of futurity shall vanish only with my existence. ~ Maria Edgeworth

If you can talk brilliantly enough about a subject you can create the consoling illusion it has been mastered. ~ Stanley Kubrick

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is Deep. ~ Saul Bellow

A pleasant illusion is better than a harsh reality. ~ Christian N. Bovee

An illusion which makes me happy is worth a verity which drags me to the ground. ~ Christoph Martin-Wieland

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. ~ Mark Twain

Every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce life early and the human race come to an end. ~ Joseph Conrad

I sell mirrors in the city of the blind. ~ Kabir

Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces. ~ Sigmund Freud

Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion. ~ Arthur Koestler

Illusions are art, for the feeling person, and it is by art that we live, if we do. ~ Elizabeth Bowen, Death of the Heart