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.

I'm half living my life between reality and fantasy at all times

Sometimes we need fantasy to survive reality.

He had a distinct problem imagining minds working differently from his own.

We need fantasy to survive reality

When we do fantasy, we must not lose sight of reality.

There is a part of me that has to depend on fantasy, because if you can't be somewhat of a fantasy person, then you can't write

To speak with his imagination, but to think with his reason.

The reality you live in is partially up to you. The fantasy you live in is entirely up to you.

From this we conclude, that, to live in harmony and peace...we must trace a line of distinction between those (assertions) that are capable of verification, and those that are not; (we must) separate by an inviolable barrier the world of fantastical beings from the world of realities...

Johnson was insulated from reality by his hopes and dreams.

But fantasies are often the best thing we can make of our multiple and contradictory wishes; they allow us to inhabit one reality without destroying the other. Fantasizing spares those we care about from the full irresponsibility and scary strangeness of our urges.

In life, reality and fantasy are blended, and I deliberately look for that connection in my work. It gives me pleasure to do so

You can talk all you want about consensual reality, Jilly, but that doesn’t change the fact that some things are real and some things aren’t. There’s a line drawn between the two that separates reality from fantasy.