As I Was on My Way to Strawberry Fair Quotes

“My brilliant theory is that the competence they find when pretending comes from viewing themselves from a slight distance. Trapped in their own skin they sweat; tongue goes numb, eyes seek cover, brain scrambles for distraction. But put where they can watch themselves on a screen, even the screen of their own imagination, and they are free. The ability to sit outside oneself, able to walk the body through the world and yet no longer suffer the body the world sees, is an anesthetic to the pain of existing. By role-playing, a person enjoys being themselves without enduring the dreadful cost of being.”
― Raymond St. Elmo, As I Was on My Way to Strawberry Fair

“You inject a tiny dead portion of fantasy into your lives, to immunize from the awful fever of real life. You protect yourselves against the magic of ever being who you were meant to be.”
― Raymond St. Elmo, As I Was on My Way to Strawberry Fair

“I studied the differences between my side of the table and his. The halves seemed equal, if opposite. But on his half loomed Authority. On my side cowered Fear. I considered just getting up and walking around the table to his side. Balance restored. Of course that was too easy. There is always some rule preventing these simple solutions. Thus, Authority.”
― Raymond St. Elmo, As I Was on My Way to Strawberry Fair

“What did I seek in this asylum? To be with her again. To walk through this weird world laughing, swinging clasped hands together. Good. That was the plan, the motto and the bottom line.”
― Raymond St. Elmo, As I Was on My Way to Strawberry Fair