“Why, if it was an illusion, not praise the catastrophe, whatever it was, that destroyed illusion and put truth in it's place?”

“Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

“Consider that if a truth is able to destroy or destabilize something, that thing was not strong, real or stable in the first place. That stability you thought you had, was a total illusion. Your world was built on quicksand.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

“In this precise sense, Kant was "the inventor of the philosophical history of philosophy": there are necessary stages in the development of philosophy, that is, one cannot directly get at the truth, one cannot begin wit it, philosophy necessarily began with metaphysical illusions. The path from illusion to its critical denunciation is the very core of philosophy, which means that successful ("true") philosophy is no longer defined by its truthful explanation of the totality of being, but by successfully accounting for the illusions, that is, by explaining not only why illusions are illusions, but also why they are structurally necessary, unavoidable, and not just accidents.”

Slavoj Žižek (1949) Slovene philosopher

“Why do we call all our generous ideas illusions, and the mean ones truths?”

Edith Wharton book The House of Mirth

“We cannot be rid of illusions. Illusion is our natural condition. Why not accept it?”

John Gray book Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals

“The truth by way of illusion.”

Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French moralist and essayist

“I've always preferred mythology to history. History is truth that becomes an illusion. Mythology is an illusion that becomes reality.”

Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker

“In all the illusions, you're the only truth that I need”

Nora Roberts (1950) American romance writer

“When illusions are shattered by truth, talent is set free.”

Gillian Rubinstein Tales of the Otori