delusions of the night

Inner happiness and serviceability do not always agree. What immediately feels most "good" is not always most "true," when measured by the verdict of the rest of experience. The difference between Philip drunk and Philip sober is the classic instance in corroboration. If merely "feeling good" could decide, drunkeness would be the supremely valid human experience. But its revelations, however acutely satisfying at the moment, are insterted into an environment which refuses to bear them out for any length of time.
- William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture I: Religion and Neurology (pg 19)