Wendy, Wendy, when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars.
James M. BarrieRead
..children know such a lot now, they soon don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the idea that the loss of childhood innocence adversely affects the world of imagination and belief.
James M. Barrie's quote suggests that as children grow up and lose their belief in magical things like fairies, it signifies a loss of innocence. The image of a fairy falling down dead every time a child disbelieves symbolizes the fragility of imagination and the bittersweet transition from childhood wonder to adult realism, illustrating how the mundane world can diminish the fantastical.
Themes
ChildrenBeliefFairiesInnocenceImagination
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a children's charity event to emphasize the importance of preserving childhood wonder.
More from James M. Barrie
All quotes →His lordship may compel us to be equal upstairs, but there will never be equality in the servants' hall.
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The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.
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Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.
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It was then that Hook bit him. Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare, horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but he will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter.
James M. BarrieRead
But the years came and went without bringing the careless boy; and when they met again Wendy was a married woman, and Peter was no more to her than a little dust in the box in which she had kept her toys.
James M. BarrieRead
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