"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."
I know I tweet that quote a lot, but it's something all of us—not just fascist cosplayers—need to hear a lot.
My memory of the quote for a long time was that it was "we must be careful about what we pretend to be, because we are what we pretend to be." I had the clauses reversed. It's so much darker the way Vonnegut actually wrote it.
The way I remembered it carries a hint of transformation—that we have to be careful not to become what we pretend to be. But that's not what Vonnegut is saying. He's saying what you pretend to be is what you are.
