Serious

How long before our masquerade will end its noise of tambourines, laughter and shouting, and we shall find it was a solitary performance?

From Experience, Essays, Second Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a useful quote for me to remember when I take myself a little too seriously, or try too hard to give an impression of a characteristic I weakly have.

All that effort, and no one was paying attention!

Yet,

It takes a good deal of time to eat or to sleep, or to earn a hundred dollars, and a very little tie to entertain a hope and an insight which becomes the light of our life.

A little imagination and a little performance for my own amusement couldn't hurt.