“Part of the appeal of the fantastic is taking ridiculous ideas very seriously and pretending they're not absurd.”

“If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.”

“He had the appeal of a very young dog of a very large breed -- a kind of amiable absurdity.”

“What we have forgotten is that thoughts and words are conventions, and that it is fatal to take conventions too seriously. A convention is a social convenience, as, for example, money ... but it is absurd to take money too seriously, to confuse it with real wealth ... In somewhat the same way, thoughts, ideas and words are "coins" for real things.”

“Those who are serious in ridiculous matters will be ridiculous in serious matters.”

“And then there is the universal role of adult. When you play that role, you take yourself and life very seriously. Spontaneity, lightheartedness, and joy are not part of that role.”