“I’d spent my entire life overdosing on uncut escapism, willingly allowing fantasy to become my reality.”

“My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little problems help me to do so.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author

“When life descends into the pit
I must become my own candle
Willingly burning my self
To light up the darkness around me.”

Alice Walker (1944) American author and activist

“We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay.”

Lynda Barry (1956) Cartoonist

“It seems that I have spent my entire time trying to make life more rational and that it was all wasted effort.”

Alfred Jules Ayer (1910–1989) English philosopher

“My job is to take you to a place of fantasy and help you escape your reality. Nothing makes me happier than to put on some crazy costume and dance around. It’s what I live for.”

Erika Jayne (1969) American singer, actress and television personality

“I spent my entire career in business, and was fortunate to experience success. Essential to my success, however, was the fact that I was engaged in the larger world around me as a curious person who wanted to learn. I did not rely only on business perspectives. In fact, it was a drive to understand and enjoy life -- and be connected to something larger than myself in my love of reading, learning, and in my case, studying and learning about Judaism -- that allows me, at 84, to see my life as fully rounded.”

Edgar Bronfman, Sr. (1929–2013) Canadian-American businessman

“You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal: except my life, except my life, except my life.”

William Shakespeare Hamlet

“I've always taken 'The Wizard of Oz' very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I've spent my entire life trying to get over it.”

Judy Garland (1922–1969) actress, singer and vaudevillian from the United States

“Music allows me to disconnect from my present reality, and communicate to my future wisdom.”

Isaac Mashman (2000) businessman, speaker