Sunday, July 5, 2009 – Just Pretending
To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend. ~ Jacques Derrida
Anyone who can handle a needle convincingly can make us see a thread which is not there. ~ E. H. Gombrich
In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
In mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them. ~ Johann von Neumann
Life… is like a grapefruit. It’s orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast. ~ Douglas Adams
Being is like pretending. ~ Mira Sorvino
The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane. ~ Mark Twain
When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane. ~ Hermann Hesse
China is a civilization pretending to be a nation. ~ Michael Ledeen
Duty largely consists of pretending that the trivial is critical. ~ John Fowles
The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business. ~ Clarence Darrow
I knew when I grew up, I always wanted to be a liar, and if you’re in television, you’re lying because you’re just pretending to be yourself much like I’m doing now. ~ John Ritter
It’s not that Shakespeare is frivolous, but you spend your time just getting people to dress up in other people’s costumes and pretending to be people that they’re not, and you think, after the years go by, well, what on earth was all that about? ~ Jonathan Miller
I’ve always believed you can get closer to the truth by pretending not to speak it. ~ Armistead Maupin
Modesty is the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it. ~ Oliver Herford
The pretended admission of a fault on our part creates an excellent impression. ~ Marcus Fabius Quintilian
One way to compensate for a tiny brain is to pretend to be dead. ~ Scott Adams
Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous. ~ Chanakya
I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure – that is all that agnosticism means. ~ Clarence Darrow
It is only the savage, whether of the African bush or of the American gospel tent, who pretends to know the will and intent of God exactly and completely. ~ H. L. Mencken
There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
I like to pretend that my art has nothing to do with me. ~ Roy Lichtenstein
We are all pretending. The important thing is to maintain a straight face. ~ Maurice Valency
It’s silly to go on pretending that under the skin we are all brothers. The truth is more likely that under the skin we are all cannibals, assassins, traitors, liars, hypocrites, poltroons. ~ Henry Miller
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. ~ Oscar Wilde
Virtue must be valuable, if men and women of all degrees pretend to have it. ~ Edgar Watson Howe
But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us. ~ Alan Watts
The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember. ~ Harold Pinter
I don’t pretend to understand the Universe – it’s a great deal bigger than I am. ~ Thomas Carlyle
It’s sometimes better to pretend I don’t hear the sound of somebody in the nearby woods with a shotgun. ~ Dashiell Hammett
My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them. ~ Mitch Hedberg
You can pretend to be serious; but you can’t pretend to be witty. ~ Sacha Guitry
You can’t go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do. ~ Fran Lebowitz
Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults. ~ Thomas Szasz
“Hallo, Rabbit,” he said, “is that you?” “Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “and see what happens.” ~ A .A. Milne
It is living and ceasing to live that are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere. ~ Andre Breton
I was the kid next door’s imaginary friend. ~ Emo Philips
Just Above Sunset 