You read about somebody, and it doesn't really matter whether or not they really exist - the point is that you get into them like real characters.
“You come to the planet with nothing and you leave with nothing, so you'd better do some good while you are here.”
“It is the hour to be drunken! to escape being the martyred slaves of time, be ceaselessly drunk. On wine, on poetry, or on virtue, as you wish.”