“Pretending to care what men think is an art. It takes moments to learn, but lifetimes to master. I’d like to believe I’m an expert.”

“I’m not leaving. I don’t care if it takes you a lifetime. I’m not giving up.”

“How much distance should there be between art and artist? I’d say no more than a lifetime.”

“I’ve learned to get really good at this—say one thing when I’m thinking about something else, act like I’m listening when I’m not, pretend to be calm and happy when really I’m freaking out. It’s one of the skillsyou perfect as you get older. You have to learn that people are always listening.”

“We all pretend for a while or for a lifetime. But pretending is not living...I believe that God meant for life to take our breath away, sometimes because of the sheer joy of it all and sometimes because of the severe pain. To choose living over pretending means that we will know both.”

“I may not look like much, but I'm an expert at pretending to be a ninja.”