“All my life to pretend this world of theirs is mine
And to know such pretending is disgraceful.
But what can I do? Suppose I suddenly screamed
And started to prophesy. No one would hear me.
Their screens and microphones are not for that.”

“And I wonder if there is really any point to what I'm doing, or what I'm supposed to make of a world where a man can get rich playing "let's pretend”

“I don't pretend to know what people are meant for," said Madame Merle. "I only know what I can do with them.”

“Sometimes, when I have to do something I don't want to do, I pretend I'm a character from a book. It's easier to know what they would do.”

“It's true," she said. "Sometimes I do pretend I am a princess. I pretend I am a princess, so that I can try and behave like one.”

“I do not pretend to start with precise questions. I do not think you can start with anything precise. You have to achieve such precision as you can, as you go along.”

“To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.”

“I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am.”

“Can't spit it out, can't gulp it down.
My love chokes me—what should I do?
Would I could scream one long, loud scream!
Oh, it hurts so! Does someone know?”

“The thing I don't understand about homosexuals is, how do they decide which one is the one who's supposed to pretend they don't want it?”