The best reason for having dreams is that in dreams no reasons are necessary.

Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) is best known for his concise, paradox-tinged aphorisms—often called “potshots”—that he published on postcards, posters, and in collections beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s. This quip fits that mode: a compact, self-contained observation built around a wordplay on “reason(s).” Rather than coming from a speech or a single famous literary work, it is characteristic of Brilliant’s commercial and epigrammatic output, where the point is a quick philosophical turn meant to be read in passing and remembered.

The line contrasts waking life—where choices are expected to be justified—with the dream world, where events unfold without logic, accountability, or explanation. By calling this the “best reason” for dreams, Brilliant makes a playful paradox: the value of dreaming is precisely its freedom from rationality. The aphorism can be read as a defense of imagination and the unconscious, suggesting that not everything meaningful must be argued for or made coherent. It also gently satirizes our habit of demanding reasons for feelings, desires, and hopes, implying that some inner experiences are legitimate even when they cannot be rationally defended.