I'm going to quote littlebird's article

in its entirety, because I like it so much (bolds mine):

“The [woman] who can most truly be accounted brave is [she] who best knows the meaning of what is sweet in life and of what is terrible, and then goes out undeterred to meet what is to come.” –Pericles

“Delusions of grandeur.” You say that like it’s a bad thing. To understand the term, let’s first take it apart, and then we will see how it works.

Delusion: A belief despite indisputable evidence to the contrary

Grandeur: State of being grand

Grand: highly important, large, lavish, lofty, sublime, impressive

Now we know what it means. But, what does a delusion of grandeur actually do? From what I can surmise, a delusion of grandeur can do two things. (Of course it can do a third and terrible thing in the case of Charles Manson or the Moonies, but I am speaking in the realm of moderately crazy not criminally insane.)

Let’s examine the two possible outcomes of a delusion of grandeur.

1. I imagine myself in a better place—fame, fortune, beauty, intrigue, etc. The delusion prompts action. I figure out how to at least aim for the grandeur and then I start getting there, guided all along by my delusion.
2. I imagine myself in a better place—fame, fortune, beauty, intrigue, etc. The delusion satisfies me. I do nothing but continue to live in my world of delusion, saturated in my grandeur.

In the first scenario, the delusion inspires. I’m gonna go out and reach for those stars. Despite “indisputable evidence to the contrary,” grand people follow their delusions of grandeur to actual grandeur. Among those who have done so, we can count Copernicus, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey.

In the second scenario, the delusion pacifies me. I am happy with my life because, to me, it is something grand. This notion reminds me of a story. I was a kid, at the library in downtown San Bernardino with my dad and sisters. A man, who looked to be vagrant, approached to us. He told us he was Jesus and that if he dies, the world will end. And, I remember my dad told us, “We better keep that guy alive.”

Just like that I understood about delusion. So what if the guy outside the library thinks he’s Jesus? Regardless of whether grandeur is achieved in what we call “real life,” the delusion of grandeur produces something more significant: happiness.

For example, as I sit here writing I could think, I am creating text that speaks to the ages. Or I could think, my work is sh*t. What’s the difference? In one case, I feel happy. In the other, I feel defeated before I even finish.

Furthermore, I would argue that what one person sees as delusional, another person sees as merely difficult. Therefore, delusions of grandeur are a.) good for our health because they make us feel happy, and b.) subject to interpretation.

What do we have to lose by imagining ourselves more grand?

More importantly, why have we been taught to see a delusion of grandeur as folly?

In my most Marxist hour, I would say that such a notion only serves to keep people down. We dream big, we confront realistic obstacles, and then we give up. We resign ourselves to low pay, unrealized dreams, unmet expectations, mediocrity.

The study of delusions of grandeur is performed by psychologists and psychiatrists. In an article on this subject in The Psychiatrist academic journal, author Henry Rollin says the following.

“Delusions of grandeur … are all fantastical … The avaricious become millionaires, billionaires, or trillionaires; the ambitious assume dominion over the earth and the heavens, including these days, the moon; the snob walks with Kings and Emperors, or assumes these roles himself.”

The guy at the library talks to God. I write a bestselling novel.

Real? Delusional? Nonetheless grand.

If we are lucky, we have about 80 good years to live. We spend 10 or 15 of those years learning be a self-sufficient human. Probably 15 or 20 more years are spent figuring out what the F is going on. That leaves 30 years of either nondelusional nongrandeur (ho hum) or delusions of grandeur.

To tie in the opening quote from Pericles: What is sweet in life must be the grandeur–delusional or otherwise. What is terrible is the absence of grandeur. What is brave is to follow your own personal delusion of grandeur undeterred to meet what is to come.

http://littlebirdcommunication.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/in-defense-of-delusions-of-grandeur/