To give up pretensions is as blessed a relief as to get them gratified.

Man is a make-believe animal: he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.

True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can any feigned thing be lasting.

Where there is much pretension, much has been borrowed; nature never pretends.

Pretension almost always overdoes the original, and hence exposes itself.

The only good in pretending is the fun we get out of fooling ourselves that we fool somebody.