--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's all right to be disillusioned, but…" description: "\"It's all right to be disillusioned, but you can't be disillusioning.\" — Leslie Ford" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg" --- # It's all right to be disillusioned, but you can't be… ![“It's all right to be disillusioned, but you can't be disillusioning.” quote by Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg) > “It's all right to be disillusioned, but you can't be disillusioning.” [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being disillusioned is permissible, but one should not cause disillusionment in others. **In simple terms:** You can be disappointed, but don’t disappoint others. Key Takeaway Avoid spreading false hope. Themes disillusionment ethics responsibility Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - personal relationships - leadership - customer service - teaching Key Concepts moral philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance honesty with kindness? - When is it okay to reveal harsh truths? A Different Perspective People may resist disillusionment despite warnings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disillusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusion/) [Disillusioned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusioned/) ## Related quotes > [Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/pitiful-is-the-person-who-is-afraid-of-taking-risks/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Death from disillusion is not instantaneous, and there are no mercy killers for the disillusioned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/death-from-disillusion-is-not-instantaneous-and-there-are-no-mercy/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/living-in-an-age-of-advertisement-we-are-perpetually-disillusioned/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [“Life when one first arrives is a continual mortification as one's romantic illusions are successively shattered and the musical treasure-house of one's imagination crumbles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/life-when-one-first-arrives-is-a-continual-mortification-as-one-s/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [There is a tremendous relief in knowing that {God's} love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/there-is-a-tremendous-relief-in-knowing-that-god-s-love-to-me-is/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Our greatest illusion is disillusion. We imagine that we are disillusioned with life, when the truth is that we have not even begun to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-brunton/our-greatest-illusion-is-disillusion-we-imagine-that-we-are/) [Paul Brunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-brunton/) > [It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/it-is-dangerous-to-let-the-public-behind-the-scenes-they-are-easily/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“Personal disillusionment accompanied by self-pity and self-loathing are the Achilles’ heel of modern humankind, representing the weakness of the human spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-disillusionment-accompanied-by-self-pity-and-self-loathing/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Any life lived attentively is disillusioning as it forces us to know us as we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/any-life-lived-attentively-is-disillusioning-as-it-forces-us-to-know/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [“I like to think I'm above that kind of shitty behavior, so you can imagine how disillusioning it's been for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-niven/i-like-to-think-i-m-above-that-kind-of-shitty-behavior-so-you-can/) [Jennifer Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-niven/) > [Affairs are just as disillusioning as marriage, and much less restful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/affairs-are-just-as-disillusioning-as-marriage-and-much-less-restful/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [To live in the past or in the future may be less satisfying than to live in the present, but it can never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/to-live-in-the-past-or-in-the-future-may-be-less-satisfying-than-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [My time in the Obama administration turned out to be a deeply disillusioning experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vali-nasr/my-time-in-the-obama-administration-turned-out-to-be-a-deeply/) [Vali Nasr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vali-nasr/) > [I mean, it's pretty disillusioning for all of us right now, and we feel pretty helpless when Congress, their approval rating is thirteen percent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-cross/i-mean-it-s-pretty-disillusioning-for-all-of-us-right-now-and-we-feel/) [Christopher Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-cross/) > [You talk to people and they seem really nice and then you read what they write and it's very disillusioning. You have to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariah-carey/you-talk-to-people-and-they-seem-really-nice-and-then-you-read-what/) [Mariah Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariah-carey/) ## More by Leslie Ford > [I suppose it's part of being a good politician to be able to spot the most important men in any group without outside assistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/i-suppose-it-s-part-of-being-a-good-politician-to-be-able-to-spot-the/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [There's nothing harder to stop than somebody who wants to believe a miracle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/there-s-nothing-harder-to-stop-than-somebody-who-wants-to-believe-a/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [A city where the Capitol Dome, perforated like a kitchen colander, is the symbol of how secrets are kept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/a-city-where-the-capitol-dome-perforated-like-a-kitchen-colander-is/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [“Mrs. Kersey had not been questioned at all, as far as I knew. She had the air of someone with a story all made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/mrs-kersey-had-not-been-questioned-at-all-as-far-as-i-knew-she-had/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [It is only fair to admit, however, that my batting average in the crystal ball league is point, zero, zero, zero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/it-is-only-fair-to-admit-however-that-my-batting-average-in-the/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [“You can always tell duty. It's what you don't want to do--it's what you fight against inside you. Duty's when you realize how it'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/you-can-always-tell-duty-it-s-what-you-don-t-want-to-do-it-s-what-you/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [If you know the dark, you find it has a light of its own to let you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/if-you-know-the-dark-you-find-it-has-a-light-of-its-own-to-let-you-see/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [“Lilac makes on occasion a sound between a sniff and a snort that's as damning as all improper words in the language and, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/lilac-makes-on-occasion-a-sound-between-a-sniff-and-a-snort-that-s-as/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [“Her Dream Prince, Gee Gee, was, then, and of course still might be, though I'd always thought of a Dream Prince as having more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/her-dream-prince-gee-gee-was-then-and-of-course-still-might-be-though/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [“...it's hard to confine an irrational woman in a rational pattern, so I had no idea really what was in her mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/it-s-hard-to-confine-an-irrational-woman-in-a-rational-pattern-so-i/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [The thing about George Barrol is that he's always putting his own and other people's feet into things that had best be left quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/the-thing-about-george-barrol-is-that-he-s-always-putting-his-own-and/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [Nobody's ever decided what success is, out here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/nobody-s-ever-decided-what-success-is-out-here/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [...he had a fascinating technique of gnawing his cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other, as if his teeth were equipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/he-had-a-fascinating-technique-of-gnawing-his-cigar-from-one-corner/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [Do you have to do murder? Do we have to do murder? Sure we have to do murder. There are only two subjects--a woman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/do-you-have-to-do-murder-do-we-have-to-do-murder-sure-we-have-to-do/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) > [You're in the democratic West now, lady. Anybody's as good as anybody else as long as he's got the dough to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/you-re-in-the-democratic-west-now-lady-anybody-s-as-good-as-anybody/) [Leslie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) [Explore all 22 Leslie Ford quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/) ## More Disillusion quotes > [“Personal disillusionment accompanied by self-pity and self-loathing are the Achilles’ heel of modern humankind, representing the weakness of the human spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-disillusionment-accompanied-by-self-pity-and-self-loathing/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Thinking I'm a moron gives people something to feel smug about," Charles Wallace said. "Why should I disillusion them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/thinking-i-m-a-moron-gives-people-something-to-feel-smug-about/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Youth is the season of tragedy and despair. Youth is the time when one's whole life is entangled in a web of identity, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/youth-is-the-season-of-tragedy-and-despair-youth-is-the-time-when-one/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [Disillusions all come from within ... from the failure of some dear and secret hope. The world makes no promises; we only dream it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/disillusions-all-come-from-within-from-the-failure-of-some-dear-and/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) > [In government you carry each hope; each disillusion. And in politics it's always about the next challenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/in-government-you-carry-each-hope-each-disillusion-and-in-politics-it/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Our greatest illusion is disillusion. We imagine that we are disillusioned with life, when the truth is that we have not even begun to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-brunton/our-greatest-illusion-is-disillusion-we-imagine-that-we-are/) [Paul Brunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-brunton/) > [The attainment of an ideal is often the beginning of a disillusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-baldwin/the-attainment-of-an-ideal-is-often-the-beginning-of-a-disillusion/) [Stanley Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-baldwin/) > [What is to be done? We who are still half alive, living in the often fibrillating heartland of a senescent capitalism -- can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/what-is-to-be-done-we-who-are-still-half-alive-living-in-the-often/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Along with the idea of romantic love, she was introduced to another--physical beauty. Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/along-with-the-idea-of-romantic-love-she-was-introduced-to-another/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Marriage and fatherhood heighten the disillusion that we all think we are born handy. We confidently believe that we can fix things around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/marriage-and-fatherhood-heighten-the-disillusion-that-we-all-think-we/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [Please don't disillusion me. I haven't had breakfast yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/please-don-t-disillusion-me-i-haven-t-had-breakfast-yet/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I promised myself that if ever I had some money that I would savor a cigar each day after lunch and dinner. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-promised-myself-that-if-ever-i-had-some-money-that-i-would-savor-a/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Thinking is the subtlest form of self-polemics, the art of a certain finesse in psychological self-vivisection and self-crucifixion (Hegel of course called the path…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/thinking-is-the-subtlest-form-of-self-polemics-the-art-of-a-certain/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [Disillusion is the last illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/disillusion-is-the-last-illusion/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [There is a tremendous relief in knowing that {God's} love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/there-is-a-tremendous-relief-in-knowing-that-god-s-love-to-me-is/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) [Browse all 79 Disillusion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's all right to be disillusioned, but you can't be disillusioning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leslie Ford" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-you-can-t-be-disillusioning/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Disillusion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-you-can-t-be-disillusioning/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/leslie-ford-26255_disillusion_it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-y_2796965.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's all right to be disillusioned, but you can't be disillusioning.” — Leslie Ford", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Leslie Ford", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ford/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's all right to be disillusioned,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-you-can-t-be-disillusioning/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ford/it-s-all-right-to-be-disillusioned-but-you-can-t-be-disillusioning/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```