Becoming Real

You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily or have sharp edges or who have to be easily kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and are very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly except to people who don’t understand.
--The Velveteen Rabbit