--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One is what one has the nerve to pretend…" description: "\"One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.\" — Alan Furst" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png" --- # One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be. ![“One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.” quote by Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png) > “One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.” [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is shaped by the courage to adopt roles beyond one’s comfort. **In simple terms:** You become what you dare to pretend. Key Takeaway Choose bold personas to expand self. Themes identity courage performance Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - acting - social interaction - personal growth - leadership Key Concepts self‑construction role‑playing psychology Questions to Reflect On - When does role‑playing become self‑deception? - How can daring personas foster genuine growth? A Different Perspective Pretending can lead to inauthenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nerve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerve/) [Nerve Pretend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerve-pretend-6082997/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Pretend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretend/) ## Related quotes > [absence can be present, like a damaged nerve, like a dark bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/absence-can-be-present-like-a-damaged-nerve-like-a-dark-bird/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/explore-thyself-herein-are-demanded-the-eye-and-the-nerve/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In adult centers the nerve paths are something fixed, ended, immutable. Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-ramon-y-cajal/in-adult-centers-the-nerve-paths-are-something-fixed-ended-immutable/) [Santiago Ramon y Cajal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-ramon-y-cajal/) > [I think genius can have a lot to do with nerve. And permission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-zambreno/i-think-genius-can-have-a-lot-to-do-with-nerve-and-permission/) [Kate Zambreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-zambreno/) > [It's a good time for me, but it's only recently I've become comfortable in my job. At the start, it's hard having the nerve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-wilson/it-s-a-good-time-for-me-but-it-s-only-recently-i-ve-become/) [Ruth Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-wilson/) > [Guilt is the very nerve of sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-bushnell/guilt-is-the-very-nerve-of-sorrow/) [Horace Bushnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-bushnell/) > [At the core of the risk-free society is a self-indulgent failure of nerve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/at-the-core-of-the-risk-free-society-is-a-self-indulgent-failure-of/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [The clitoris contains 8,000 nerve endings. It makes it easy to have sex. With yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dannii-minogue/the-clitoris-contains-8-000-nerve-endings-it-makes-it-easy-to-have/) [Dannii Minogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dannii-minogue/) > [The littlest thing can have the strongest connection when you're grieving. Your Proustian, poetic nerve is turned up to ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mills/the-littlest-thing-can-have-the-strongest-connection-when-you-re/) [Mike Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mills/) > [First developed as a weapon by the U.S. Army, VX is an oily, odorless and tasteless liquid that kills on contact with the skin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/first-developed-as-a-weapon-by-the-u-s-army-vx-is-an-oily-odorless/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Strain every nerve to gain your point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/strain-every-nerve-to-gain-your-point/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Records that were the sound of somebody - more often than not, a she - speaking with a voice that had never been heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/records-that-were-the-sound-of-somebody-more-often-than-not-a-she/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [Don't ever fall for your Best Friend coz he surely knows your most weakest nerve!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-v-w-m-gh/don-t-ever-fall-for-your-best-friend-coz-he-surely-knows-your-most/) [Mýväñwý Mêghä](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-v-w-m-gh/) > [Most people don't grow up. It's too damn difficult. What happens is most people get older. That's the truth of it. They honor their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/most-people-don-t-grow-up-it-s-too-damn-difficult-what-happens-is/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [A husband is what's left of the lover after the nerve has been extracted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/a-husband-is-what-s-left-of-the-lover-after-the-nerve-has-been/) [Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/) ## More by Alan Furst > [“It was dawn by the time the detective showed up; tired and weary. Tired because he’d been called from his bed before dawn, weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/it-was-dawn-by-the-time-the-detective-showed-up-tired-and-weary-tired/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [“Luftmenschen were also eternal students, lost souls, young people who spent their lives arguing politics in cafés and drifting through the student communities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/luftmenschen-were-also-eternal-students-lost-souls-young-people-who/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [Live today, for tomorrow we die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/live-today-for-tomorrow-we-die/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [“There's a French saying, ‘Où le Dieu a vous semé, il faut savoir fleurir.’ Let's see, ‘Wherever God has planted you, you must know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/there-s-a-french-saying-o-le-dieu-a-vous-sem-il-faut-savoir-fleurir/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [I don't just want my books to be about the '30s and '40s. I want them to read as if they had been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/i-don-t-just-want-my-books-to-be-about-the-30s-and-40s-i-want-them-to/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [“Home at that moment was a starless night, a steady wind, not a human to be seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/home-at-that-moment-was-a-starless-night-a-steady-wind-not-a-human-to/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [“when at last they’d had to admit to themselves that they’d made all the love they could, had been a last meal. Like”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/when-at-last-they-d-had-to-admit-to-themselves-that-they-d-made-all/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [I write what I call 'novels of consolation' for people who are bright and sophisticated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/i-write-what-i-call-novels-of-consolation-for-people-who-are-bright/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [“This year, of course, being 1936, there would be no figs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/this-year-of-course-being-1936-there-would-be-no-figs/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [It takes me three months of research and nine months of work to produce a book. When I start writing, I do two pages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/it-takes-me-three-months-of-research-and-nine-months-of-work-to/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [Politicians were like talking dogs in a circus: the fact that they existed was uncommonly interesting, but no sane person would actually believe what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/politicians-were-like-talking-dogs-in-a-circus-the-fact-that-they/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [I have a very serious censorship office inside my head; it censors things that I could tell you that you would never forget, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/i-have-a-very-serious-censorship-office-inside-my-head-it-censors/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [If you're a writer, you're always working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/if-you-re-a-writer-you-re-always-working/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [“When a diplomat says ‘yes’ he means ‘maybe.’ When a diplomat says ‘maybe’ he means ‘no.’ But if a diplomat says ‘no’ he’s no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/when-a-diplomat-says-yes-he-means-maybe-when-a-diplomat-says-maybe-he/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [My novels are about the European reality, not about chases. You want chases, get somebody else's books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/my-novels-are-about-the-european-reality-not-about-chases-you-want/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) [Explore all 43 Alan Furst quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) ## More Nerve quotes > [A husband is what's left of the lover after the nerve has been extracted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/a-husband-is-what-s-left-of-the-lover-after-the-nerve-has-been/) [Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/) > [Most people don't grow up. It's too damn difficult. What happens is most people get older. That's the truth of it. They honor their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/most-people-don-t-grow-up-it-s-too-damn-difficult-what-happens-is/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Don't ever fall for your Best Friend coz he surely knows your most weakest nerve!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-v-w-m-gh/don-t-ever-fall-for-your-best-friend-coz-he-surely-knows-your-most/) [Mýväñwý Mêghä](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-v-w-m-gh/) > [Records that were the sound of somebody - more often than not, a she - speaking with a voice that had never been heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/records-that-were-the-sound-of-somebody-more-often-than-not-a-she/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [“Not that pain is the worst thing in the universe. Interesting things happen when you adapt pain for your own. This thing you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-jackson/not-that-pain-is-the-worst-thing-in-the-universe-interesting-things/) [Shelley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-jackson/) > [“Some people’s self-esteem was secretly improved when they discovered that their then-lovers had killed themselves over them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-s-self-esteem-was-secretly-improved-when-they-discovered/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“you're on the nerve before my last one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-oy/you-re-on-the-nerve-before-my-last-one/) [Andrew Oyé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-oy/) > [A single human brain has about a hundred million nerve cells... and a computer program that throws light on the mind/brain problem will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/a-single-human-brain-has-about-a-hundred-million-nerve-cells-and-a/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [It's nerve wracking being in the stadium with so many people supporting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yohan-blake/it-s-nerve-wracking-being-in-the-stadium-with-so-many-people/) [Yohan Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yohan-blake/) > [Strain every nerve to gain your point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/strain-every-nerve-to-gain-your-point/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [A husband is what is left of a lover, after the nerve has been extracted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/a-husband-is-what-is-left-of-a-lover-after-the-nerve-has-been/) [Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/) > [First developed as a weapon by the U.S. Army, VX is an oily, odorless and tasteless liquid that kills on contact with the skin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/first-developed-as-a-weapon-by-the-u-s-army-vx-is-an-oily-odorless/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [“I could have been killed, and their response is to film me?...In that moment, the myth that every time your picture is taken, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-ryan/i-could-have-been-killed-and-their-response-is-to-film-me-in-that/) [Jeanne Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-ryan/) > [People throw insults at you, and sometimes they hit a nerve - and it's about not showing that, because they will pick on that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maisie-williams/people-throw-insults-at-you-and-sometimes-they-hit-a-nerve-and-it-s/) [Maisie Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maisie-williams/) > [That Newt Gingrich or any mainstream Republican has the nerve to look down from what they perceive as their moral mountaintop at anyone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/that-newt-gingrich-or-any-mainstream-republican-has-the-nerve-to-look/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) [Browse all 115 Nerve quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerve/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Furst" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nerve" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4e/alan-furst-15100_nerve_one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend_1600116.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One is what one has the nerve to pretend to be.” — Alan Furst", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Furst", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One is what one has the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/one-is-what-one-has-the-nerve-to-pretend-to-be/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```