And in what fairy tale would John ever be any sane person’s idea of Prince Charming anyway? He was the opposite of charming. More like Prince Terrifying.

Maybe love after all only exists in wonderful fairy tales. I’m just slowly starting to think that,but could I be wrong?

When I was a little girl I used to read fairy tales. In fairy tales you meet Prince Charming and he’s everything you ever wanted. In fairy tales the bad guy is very easy to spot. The bad guy is always wearing a black cape so you always know who he is. Then you grow...

Once upon a time fairy tales were told to audiences of young and old alike. It is only in the last century that such tales were deemed fit only for small children, stripped of much of their original complexity, sensuality, and power to frighten and delight.

[The fairy tale] is accused of giving children a false impression of the world they live in. But I think no literature that children could read gives them less of a false impression. I think what profess to be realistic stories for children are far more likely to deceive them. I never expected the real...

Hammer does not think he will make it through this next winter. His breath comes short in his chest, and it takes much effort for him to get up and dressed. My body is still creaky and sound, but with every labor of his breath, I think that my heart will not endure. Enduring were...

Corto à lui même: Ce serait bon de vivre dans une fable.Bouche Dorée à Corto: Oh oui!… Mais toi tu vis continuellement une fable et tu ne t’en aperçois plus. Lorsqu’un adulte entre dans le monde des fables, il ne peut plus en sortir. Le savais-tu?

You don’t feed nightingales on fairy-tales

It has generally been assumed that fairy tales were first created for children and are largely the domain of children. But nothing could be further from the truth.From the very beginning, thousands of years ago, when tales were told to create communal bonds in face of the inexplicable forces of nature, to the present, when...

This is the list you carry in your pocket, of the things you plan to say to Kay, when you find him, if you find him:1. I’m sorry that I forgot to water your ferns while you were away that time.2. When you said that I reminded you of your mother, was that a good...

We can’t give you any further information,” the fairies replied. “Be satisfied, madam, with the assurance that your daughter will be happy.” She thanked them very much and did not forget to give them many presents. Although the fairies were quite rich, they always liked people to give them something. Throughout the world this custom...

There are many kinds of joy, but they all lead to one: the joy to be loved.

You’ll get fired if anyone finds out about us!””So many rules in this century,” Vane muttered.

Aber was da zum Vorschein kam, wuchs den Philologen über den Kopf, wie das so oft im Eifer der Wissenschaften vorkommt. Bei ihrem Vorhaben, im reinsten Interesse der Germanistik heimische Sagenschätze schlichter Bauern und ehrbarer Ammen freizulegen, waren sie auf Aushöhlungen gestoßen, aus denen ihnen geile Succuben entgegenflatterten, giftiges Schlangen- und Basiliskengezücht entgegenkroch, der Blutgeruch...

A Tangle of Green Men”]

…remember that the danger that is most to be feared is never the danger we are most afraid of.

Cinderella of course,” Danielle giggled.

Studies [on the origin of fairy-stories] are, however, scientific (at least in intent); they are the pursuit of folklorists or anthropologists: that is of people using the stories not as they were meant to be used, but as a quarry from which to dig evidence, or information, about matters in which they are interested….with regard...

Can you not see, […] that fairy tales in their essence are quite solid and straightforward; but that this everlasting fiction about modern life is in its nature essentially incredible? Folk-lore means that the soul is sane, but that the universe is wild and full of marvels. Realism means that the world is dull and...

One more time” in the face of failure. Hope is what gives life to dreams, making the fairy tale the reality.

Fairy tales are experienced by their hearers and readers, not as realistic, but as symbolic poetry.

Have you ever pondered the miracle of popcorn? It starts out as a tiny, little, compact kernel with magic trapped inside that when agitated, bursts to create something marvelously desirable. It’s sort of like those tiny, little thoughts trapped inside an author’s head that―in an excited explosion of words―suddenly become a captivating fairytale!

But wishes are only granted in fairy tales.

Finally, I’d say to anyone who wants to tell these tales, don’t be afraid to be superstitious. If you have a lucky pen, use it. If you speak with more force and wit when wearing one red sock and one blue one, dress like that. When I’m at work I’m highly superstitious. My own superstition...

Your love life is insignificant when it comes to raising your children to be respectable human beings. The moment you see them suffer or lower their standards because of your selfishness, is the day you should realize that nothing matters more than them. You are not just the queen or king of your fairy tale....

loneliness leads you to forbidden lands

This was like being in one of those National Geographic magazines. We were among the natives now.

…fairy tales, just a fancy word for lies…

Americans live not by facts, but by a lengthy list of myths.

a means to conquer the terrors of mankind through metaphor.

Fairy tales represent hundreds of years of stories based on thousands of years of stories told by hundreds, thousands, perhaps even millions of tellers.

I have always been quite good at falling in love, but I don’t pretend to know anything about literal happily ever afters. 

Stand still while I yell at you.

I’ve been very influenced by folklore, fairy tales, and folk ballads, so I love all the classic works based on these things — like George Macdonald’s 19th century fairy stories, the fairy poetry of W.B. Yeats, and Sylvia Townsend Warner’s splendid book The Kingdoms of Elfin. (I think that particular book of hers wasn’t published...

Once upon a time, they say, there was a girl…there was a boy…there was a person who was in trouble. And this is what she did…and what he did…and how they learned to survive it. This is what they did…and why one failed…and why another triumphed in the end. And I know that it’s true,...

Sometimes I look at this world and it moves me to tears. The joy and terror and the mad bloody drama of it all. I wonder why they never seem to really see it. Maybe one lifetime just isn’t enough. Or maybe it’s too much. I can’t say. But the truth, to be perfectly plain,...

If you cannot see the fineness in my Hammer, you’d best look at him with better eyes.

I really feel that we’re not giving children enough credit for distinguishing what’s right and what’s wrong. I, for one, devoured fairy tales as a little girl. I certainly didn’t believe that kissing frogs would lead me to a prince, or that eating a mysterious apple would poison me, or that with the magical “Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo”...

Dr. Manning said he’d thought at first it might be sleeping sickness, or even narcolepsy, whatever that was, but – no, Pete was healthy enough physically. Manoel growled that the boy was bone-lazy, spending his time fishing and reading. Reading! No good could come of such things.’In a way you’re right, Manoel,’ Dr. Manning said...

Rarely do wonder tales end unhappily. They triumph over death. The tale begins with “Once upon a time” or “Once there was” and never really ends when it ends. The ending is actually the beginning. The once upon a time is not a past designation but futuristic: the timelessness of the tale and its lack...

Fairy tales were stupid. And dangerous.

We’re a couple of travelers!” I called up to her. “I’m Briony, and this is Ella!””Grammy said I ought not to talk to strangers!” she called back.”We’re not strangers!” Ella shouted. “We’re with the union!”I cut her a look and mouthed, Union?, which was silly with this other girl out of earshot. Ella shrugged.There was...

It’s just that, right now, I want to hear you promise me that if we do run out of time and I go mad, like Miranda, it ends with me. The curse ends here, because our baby will be safe. You will make that happen. Isn’t that so?”It took him a minute. “Yes,” he said...

Plus, I happened to be a history nerd. Why else would I be interested in a guy born in the year 519?

Leo, that’s Snow White,” Piper said.

There were lots of things in this lifetime that I’d doubted, precious little I’d known for sure. But in that moment, I knew I would save her, or die trying.

I fear nothing when I am doing right,’ said Jack.’Then,’ said the lady in the red cap, ‘you are one of those who slay giants.

Fairy tales are not real. However, myths are the historical notes of those who were much wiser than ourselves. We therefore have no right to judge legends; lest we dare challenge demigods and angels.

Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make. If men were ever in a state...

Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill...