Quotes about reality

Believe worked well enough when a man could not measure it against facts. But when he could…Facts crushed to belief like a mammoth crushing a vole.

Hopes were only shadows that too often vanished in the pitiless light of reality.

Flora wasn’t sure she liked that in the abstract; whom a man knew shouldn’t have mattered so much as what he knew. But that didn’t change reality one bit.

But, as often happened, the official and the real had only a nodding acquaintance with each other.

You have a fine stump speech there, Congresswoman, and I think you are sincere in it, but it doesn’t altogether match the way the world works.

She was only eight years old, and still confused the way things should have been with the way they were.

What should matter and what does matter, monsieur, are not one and the same thing, I regret to say.

The ability to see what is, sir, is essential for the leader of a great nation.

We must deal with life as it is, not with life as we wish it were or as it may be ten years or fifty years from now.

He knew what he imagined and what was real were not one and the same. Knowing it and coming to terms with it were not one and the same, either.

“So that’s a magical world down there?” asked Bamber.

Falija replied in an astonished voice, “No, of course it’s not magical. It’s completely real. It simply has a lot of lifeforms that you’re unfamiliar with.”

Glory asked, “What do you mean, it’s not magical, it’s real?”

“It’s a real world. It has real qualities. Up is always up and down is always down. Fruit falls from a tree, it doesn’t float to the sky. Creatures are born in this world, and grow up and eventually die. What’s true today is also true tomorrow.

“If this were a magical world, all those things would be subject to could have by anyone who had power or could command it by spell or enchantment. Magical worlds can’t exist in our universe because their rules change constantly, and there’s no difference between evil and good. Power is power, and everyone does what they can get away with.”

“I always thought magic was sort of nice,” said Glory.

Falija’s ears drooped. “Humans are fascinated with magic. Your people like to believe in powers that will break all the laws of the universe, just for you.” Falija shivered.

You asked for wisdom? Hear these words. Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.