The stuffed rabbit asked- What is real? Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle? And the horse said: Real isn’t how you’re made. It’s a thing that happens to you. When [somebody] loves you for a long long time not just to play with, but really loves then you become real. And the rabbit asked, ‘Does it hurt?’ And the horse said, ‘Sometimes.’ ‘Does it happen all at once like being wound up, or bit by bit?’ ‘It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen to people who break easily. Generally by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints. But these things don’t matter at all because you are real and you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’

- The Velveteen Rabbit (One of my new favorite persons left this quote on my desktop last night while I was making dinner. I love it.)