It is one of the peculiar truths of life that people often say things that they know full well are ridiculous.

For obvious reasons, I never told you about my notebook, with a cover as green as mansions long ago, which I use as a commonplace book, a phrase which here means 'place where I have collected passages from some of the most important books I have read.

No reality has the power to dispel a dream.

Blinded following the Blindfolded

This is an absurd moral, for you and I both know that sometimes not only is it good to lie, it is necessary to lie.

So you’re reluctant, I said to myself. Many, many people are reluctant. It’s like having feet. It’s nothing to brag about.

The more I protest that I'm not Lemony Snicket, and that I'm Daniel Handler instead, the more it becomes clear to the audience that I am in fact Lemony Snicket, that I am in fact standing in front of them.