“There is such a place
as fairyland – but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know
that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One
bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have
lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut
behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the
common light of common day. Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever
find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and
only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned
and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and
poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never
forgotten the way to fairyland.”
― L.M.
Montgomery, The
Story Girl
as fairyland – but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know
that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One
bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have
lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut
behind them and the age of gold is over. Henceforth they must dwell in the
common light of common day. Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever
find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and
only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned
and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and
poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never
forgotten the way to fairyland.”
― L.M.
Montgomery, The
Story Girl