Is there a word for a statement which is false but comfortable to believe in?

single-word-requests

Example statement: 'life is fair'. Is there a more specific term other than fallacy? Maybe a subset of fallacy that also indicates comfort in believing it.

Solution 1:

I'd call it wishful thinking:

the attribution of reality to what one wishes to be true or the tenuous justification of what one wants to believe.

(M-W)

Solution 2:

This would be a Panglossian statement or Panglossianism, after the character Professor Pangloss in Voltaire's Candide who eschews suffering, posits that even the worst misfortunes are for the best and puts a positive spin on every tragedy or case of malfeasance.

Solution 3:

Some words that could apply to a "statement which is false but comfortable to believe in"

Platitude

As defined in Cambridge Dictionary

a remark or statement that may be true but is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before

also

a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.

Bromide

a trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe or placate.

"feel-good bromides create the illusion of problem solving"

a commonplace or hackneyed statement or notion

-Merriam-Webster

Solution 4:

Going off of the first answer and comment, I think the following might be useful:

fantasy - all-purpose description of a belief in something false that is pleasing.

delusion - belief in something false that is usually pleasing or at least very convincing to the thinker but has negative consequences for themselves or for others.

self-deception - similar to delusion but with less of a connotation of badly disordered thinking. A self-deception to me seems to indicate something like rationalization.

Others, in no particular order: