Quotes About Illusion

This realization can lead to the demand to live life to the full now, but it can also be a traumatic shock to a believer, who may start to doubt in a way which is wholly disorienting. The latter response is part of what Nietzsche terms 'nihilism', which is the result of holding metaphysical beliefs that turn out to be illusory. Avoiding nihilism means never even entertaining such comforting fictions in the first place, so that there is nothing to lose.

air castles are often within our grasp late in life, but then they charm not.

In war-as-spectacle, appearances could be more important than reality, because appearance often ended up determining reality.

He thinks each day will be better than the next; he is wrong. He awakens the next morning and thinks it again; he is wrong. He thinks we are free to become our true selves, that we are free to love as we choose. A mindset so UnitedStatesian, you could serve it with ketchup. But, friends, you cannot live on ketchup.

It is a traveler's fallacy that one should shop for clothing while abroad. Those white linen tunics, so elegant in Greece, emerge from the suitcase as mere hippie rags; the beautiful striped shirts of Rome are confined to the closet; and the delicate hand batiks of Bali are first cruise wear, then curtains, then signs of impending madness. And then there is Paris.

Like a landmark, a pyramid-shaped stone or a cypress, that we assume will never move. So we can find our way home. And then, inevitably, one day—it's gone. And we realize that we thought we were the only changing thing, the only variable, in the world; that the objects and people in our lives are there for our pleasure, like the playing pieces of a game, and cannot move of their own accord; that they are held in place by our need for them, by our love. How stupid

And then, inevitably, one day it's gone. And we realise we thought we were the only changing thing, the only variable in the world. That the objects and people in our lives are there for our pleasure. Like the playing pieces of a game and cannot move of their own accord. That they are held in place by our need for them. By our love. How stupid.

I recall how the flash of her glowing dress against my closing eyelids was like the neon glow of hotels flashing VACANCY VACANCY on a long night ride. I felt the weight of my mind hanging from a branch, pulling, pulling, and before I knew it the stem had snapped and I was falling, blind, into the void.

It's easy to say something is all in your head. It's like saying a sunset is all in your eyes, she said, gesturing, pursing her mouth in small furies. It's stupid, it's nonsense. It has no brain for beauty.

The brain is so wrong, all the time she says, turning to the dark landscape again. Wrong about what time it is, and who people are, and where home is: wrong wrong wrong. The lying brain.

It's easy to say something is all in your head. It's like saying a sunset is all in your eyes," she said, gesturing, pursing her mouth in small furies. "It's stupid, it's nonsense. It has no brain for beauty.

Things are going so well today that it feels not impossible it is the Nobel Committee. But, friends, it is not the Nobel Committee. It is a rule of life, alas, that it is never the Nobel Committee.

The brain is so wrong, all the time. [...] Wrong about what time it is, and who people are, and where home is: wrong wrong wrong. The lying brain.

Perception is controlled hallucination.

Fantasy love is much better than Reality Love.

I don't know where the artificial stops and the real starts.

I believe in low lights and trick mirrors.

I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.

Sex is the biggest nothing of all time.

People some times say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually its the way things happen to you in real life thats unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, its like watching television. You don't feel anything.

Romance is finding your fantasy in people who don't have it.

I believe in low light and trick mirrors. I believe in plastic surgery.

I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.

El amor-fantasía, es mucho mejor que el amor-realidad.