Literary notes about illusory (AI summary)
In literature, "illusory" frequently conveys a sense of deceptive transience and unreliability, whether it be in perceptions, ideals, or appearances. Authors use it to describe how certain hopes or visions, although enticing, lack a solid foundation—suggesting that what is seen or believed is not the genuine article ([1], [2]). Philosophical and psychological discussions employ the term to differentiate between what appears real and what is ultimately a fleeting or misinterpreted phenomenon, as in considerations of perception and the nature of reality itself ([3], [4], [5]). At times the word accentuates the contrast between apparent beauty or advantage and its inherent insubstantiality, inviting readers to question the solidity of everyday experiences and social constructs ([6], [7], [8]).
- exclaimed Teresa, thinking how illusory the hopes of the page were, and on what a weak foundation his dreams of happiness rested.
— from The Cid Campeador: A Historical Romance by Antonio de Trueba - She knew only too well to what a degree this hope was illusory, but this was her last opportunity of conversing with him.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872 A Monthly Magazine by Various - Among these are to be reckoned the influence of illusory perception or insight, my own and that of others.
— from Illusions: A Psychological Study by James Sully - [212] and half-unconscious processes of reasoning, or current opinions to which familiarity has given an illusory air of self-evidence.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick - Of Pure Reason as the Seat of Transcendental Illusory Appearance.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - The picture of life as an eternal war for illusory ends was drawn at first by satirists, unhappily with too much justification in the facts.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - The greater latitude of choice which a salary would give is an illusory advantage.
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill - Its garments, too, glistened so much the brighter with an illusory magnificence.
— from Mosses from an old manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne
