To face reality requires more courage than to escape it. It’s a truth that hits you right in the gut, because we’ve all been there—choosing the comfortable lie over the difficult truth.
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Meaning
At its core, this quote means that it’s actually easier, in the short term, to lie to yourself or run from your problems than it is to stand firm and deal with what’s really happening.
Explanation
Let me break this down for you. Think about the last time you avoided a difficult conversation, or scrolled through your phone to numb out, or told yourself a project was “fine” when you knew it was falling apart. That’s the escape. It’s a reflex. Our brains are literally wired for it—it’s a form of psychological protection. But here’s the kicker, the part that takes real guts: it’s stopping that reflex. It’s looking at the messy, complicated, sometimes painful truth of a situation and saying, “Okay, this is what I’m dealing with.” That initial moment of acceptance, that’s where the real courage is. It’s the difference between being a passive passenger in your life and taking the wheel, even when the road is rough.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Success (341) |
| Topics | courage (145), reality (19), truth (77) |
| Literary Style | concise (408) |
| Emotion / Mood | determined (116), inspiring (392) |
| Overall Quote Score | 87 (185) |
Origin & Factcheck
This one comes straight from Daniel Goleman’s 1985 book, Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self-Deception. You might know Goleman better for his later work on Emotional Intelligence, but this was a deep dive into how and why we lie to ourselves. I’ve seen this quote pop up occasionally in memes attributed to random philosophers, but its true home is in this exploration of cognitive psychology.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | Daniel Goleman (125) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self-Deception (61) |
| Origin Timeperiod | Modern (530) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and bestselling author whose journalism at The New York Times brought brain and behavior science to a wide audience. He earned a BA from Amherst and a PhD in psychology from Harvard, and studied in India on a Harvard fellowship. Goleman’s research and writing helped mainstream emotional intelligence, leadership competencies, attention, and contemplative science. He co-founded CASEL and a leading research consortium on EI at work. The Daniel Goleman book list includes Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Primal Leadership, Social Intelligence, Focus, and Altered Traits.
| Official Website
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | To face reality requires more courage than to escape it |
| Book Details | Publication Year: 1985; ISBN: 9780743240156; Last edition: 1996 Harper Perennial; Number of pages: 288. |
| Where is it? | Approximate page from 1996 edition, Chapter 5: The Costs of Denial |