“The brain is very good at self-delusion.”

Source: The Final Empire

Source: Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Source: Choice Theory (1997), p. 105

Source: Soldiers Live (2000), Chapter 76, “The Taglian Territories: Another Origin Story” (p. 609)

Source: Hyperion (1989), Chapter 3 (p. 191)

Speech to the House of Commons (8 June 1982) http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/60882a.htm <br class="br">1980s, First term of office (1981–1985) <br class="br">Context: From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy. But none — not one regime — has yet been able to risk free elections. Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.... If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.... Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that&#x27;s now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.

Variant: What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.
Source: The Kreutzer Sonata

Changing the World