“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.”

“You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.”

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

“Pretend you are foolish to the foolish, and be yourself when you are alone or with others like you, because if you take the foolish seriously as your friend, you might be a fool yourself.”

“If you do not take the distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that anything you find in this world is a part of God. But, of course, if you think some things really bad, and God really good, then you cannot talk like that. You must believe that God is separate from the world and that some of the things we see in it are contrary to His will.”

“A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween.”