#illusions

Words are illusions. ↗

— Bodhidharma

#words

Subhuti, someone might fill innumerable worlds with the seven treasures and give all away in gifts of alms, but if any good man or any good woman awakens the thought of Enlightenment and takes even only four lines from this Discourse, reciting, using, receiving, retaining and spreading them abroad and explaining them for the benefit of others, it will be far more meritorious. Now in what manner may he explain them to others? By detachment from appearances-abiding in Real Truth. -So I tell you- Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream; A flash of lightening in a summer cloud, A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream. When Buddha finished this Discourse the venerable Subhuti, together with the bhikshus, bhikshunis, lay-brothers and sisters, and the whole realms of Gods, Men and Titans, were filled with joy by His teaching, and, taking it sincerely to heart they went their ways. ↗

— Gautama Buddha

#detachment #diamond-sutra #illusions #inspirational #life

Realizing this, I knew that the actual space of a room could be broken down and played with by planting illusions of real light (electric light) at crucial junctures in the room's composition. ↗

— Dan Flavin

#broken #composition #could #crucial #down

Some people center the universe around themselves; while making other people nothing but decorations to their existence. "I will do this and then I will do that and then people will think this about me and then people will think that about me, and then I will add that person to my life when the convenient time arrives, and this person over here would make a very convenient addition as well..." They build their own thrones for themselves, and add decorations all around their thrones. The problem with that is: it does not bring happiness. A throne must be built for you; it must not be you who builds your own throne. If so, everything that you think you are is only an illusion! And illusions dissolve one day. Poof! ↗

— C. JoyBell C.

#illusionary-life #illusions #poof #thrones #wisdom-quotes

That's the beauty of it. Have you seen the contraptions these magicians build to accomplish the most mundane feats? They are a bunch of fish covered in feathers trying to convince the public they can fly, I am simply a bird in their midst. ↗

— Erin Morgenstern

#fish #illusions #magic #beauty

In those days, we imagined ourselves as being kept in some kind of holding pen, waiting to be released into our lives. And when the moment came, our lives -- and time itself -- would speed up. How were we to know that our lives had in any case begun, that some advantage had already been gained, some damage already inflicted? Also, that our release would only be into a larger holding pen, whose boundaries would be at first undiscernible. ↗

— Julian Barnes

#youth #imagination

To understand yourself: Is that a discovery or a creation? ↗

— Pascal Mercier

#honesty #illusions #perception #personality #self-awareness

I have had four happy days in my life, and three of them turned out to be illusions. ↗

— Taylor Caldwell

#four #had #happy #happy days #i

We have a country to turn around. This week you will nominate the most experienced executive to seek the presidency in 60 years in Mitt Romney. He has no illusions about what makes America great, and he doesn't confuse the presidency with celebrity, or loftiness with leadership. ↗

— Artur Davis

#america #around #celebrity #confuse #country

Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached. ↗

— Simone Weil

#attained #detached #great #illusions #only