Jonathan Stroud Quotes

Through tattered clothes great vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold and the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks. Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it.

she shall scant show well that now shows best.

Appearances are not reality; but they often can be a convincing alternative to it. You can control appearances most of the time, but facts are what they are. When the facts are too sharp, you can craft a cheerful version of the situation and cover the facts the way that you can covered a battered old four-slice toaster with a knitted cozy featuring images of kittens.

You can put lipstick and earrings on a hog and call it Monique, but it's still a pig.

Thus 'tis with all; their chief and constant care Is to seem everything but what they are.

I am not merry, but I do beguile the thing I am by seeming otherwise.

The Devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape.

An item that looks perfectly normal on the surface might only be disguised.

Here too it’s masquerade, I find: As everywhere, the dance of mind. I grasped a lovely masked procession, And caught things from a horror show… I’d gladly settle for a false impression, If it would last a little longer, though.

Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't!

I hate clowns. You can't see what they're thinking.

Things are not at all what they seem to be: oh no, not at all.

Things don't always look as they seem.

One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

Cracks especially. You have to be careful of the cracks.. Sometimes they are disguised as something else. A doorway, or a smile or even a winking eye. And if you fall through them, you never know were you will end up.

But a myth, to speak plainly, to me is like a menu in a fancy French restaurant: glamorous, complicated camouflage for a fact you wouldn't otherwise swallow, like maybe lima beans.

Paranoia is just another mask for ignorance. The truth, when you finally chase it down is almost always far worse than your darkest visions and fears

Truth is for tailors and shoemakers. I, on the contrary, have always held that the Lord has a penchant for masquerades.

You're like this leopard who's pretending to be a house cat.

No one is who they pretend to be

A joke is a good camouflage. Next best comes sentiment... But the best camouflage of all - in my opinion - is the plain and simple truth. Because nobody ever believes it.

Playing with appearances and mastering the arts of deception are among the aesthetic pleasures of life. They are also key components in the acquisition of power.

There some trifles well habited, as there are some fools well clothed.

Neither awake nor in a dark dream are perilous blades just as they seem.

Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them... there is nothing.