We often confuse what we wish for with what is.

The line points to a common cognitive and emotional error: letting desire, hope, or fear overwrite accurate perception. “What we wish for” can become a lens that edits evidence—leading us to misread people, situations, or outcomes in ways that feel comforting or urgent but are not true. The quote’s force lies in its quiet warning: clarity requires distinguishing aspiration from actuality. It also implies an ethical dimension—self-deception can harm others when we act on imagined narratives rather than facts. Read this way, it’s both a psychological observation and a call to humility: reality is not obligated to match our wants, and wisdom begins with seeing what is.