Hamilton Wright Mabie > Quotes

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie

“Nothing is lost upon a man who is bent upon growth; nothing wasted on one who is always preparing for - life by keeping eyes, mind and heart open to nature, men, books, experience - and what he gathers serves him at unexpected moments in unforeseen ways.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie

“Then the maiden climbed into a tree, and, seating herself in the branches, began to knit.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the highest standards and is content with nothing less than his best.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie

“Fair queen, at home there is none like thee,
But over the mountains is Snow-white free,
With seven little dwarfs, who are strange to see;
A thousand times fairer than thou is she.

Queen, thou art not the fairest now;
Snow-white over the mountain's brow
A thousand times fairer is than thou.

Queen, thou art the fairest here,
But not when Snow-white is near;
Over the mountains still is she,
Fairer a thousand times than thee.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“Art involves forgetfulness of immediate ends; complete surrender to the inward impulse to give form to the beautiful idea or image of truth because it is beautiful.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie

“of the race, untrammelled by the necessity of rigid adherence to the fact. The myths record the earliest attempt at an explanation of the world and its life; the fairy tale records the free and joyful”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“now at the end of a long avenue, but when he turned to, look for his followers not one was to be seen; the woods had closed instantly upon him as he had passed through. He was entirely alone, and utter”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“I will fly away to them, to the royal birds, and they will beat me, because I, that am so ugly, dare to come near them. But it is all the same. Better to be killed by them than to be pursued by ducks, and beaten by fowls, and pushed about by the girl who takes care of the poultry yard, and to suffer hunger in winter!" And it flew out into the water, and swam towards the beautiful swans; these looked at it, and came sailing down upon it with outspread wings. "Kill me!" said the poor creature, and bent its head down upon the water, expecting nothing but death. But what was this that it saw in the clear water? It beheld its own image; and, lo! it was no longer a clumsy dark-gray bird, ugly and hateful to look at, but a—swan!”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“conditions, an effort to reconcile the spirit which loves freedom and goodness and beauty with its harsh, bare and disappointing conditions. It is, in its earliest form, a spontaneous and instinctive endeavor to shape the facts of the world to meet the needs”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“THE STORY OF ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“Then she cried quickly, "Stay, brother, stay! do not drink, or you will become a wild beast, and tear me to pieces." Thirsty as he was, the brother conquered his desire to drink at her words, and said, "Dear sister, I will wait till we come to a spring." So they wandered farther, but as they approached, she heard in the bubbling spring the words— "Who drinks of me, a wolf will be." "Brother, I pray you, do not drink of this brook; you will be changed into a wolf, and devour me." Again the brother denied himself and promised to wait; but he said, "At the next stream I must drink, say what you will, my thirst is so great." Not far off ran a pretty streamlet, looking clear and bright; but here also in its murmuring waters, the sister heard the words— "Who dares to drink of me, Turned to a stag will be." "Dear brother, do not drink," she began; but she was too late, for her brother had already knelt by the stream to drink, and as the first drop of water touched his lips he became a fawn. How the little sister wept over the enchanted brother, and the fawn wept also. He did not run away, but stayed close to her; and at last she said, "Stand still, dear fawn; don't fear, I must take care of you, but I will never leave you." So she untied her little golden garter and fastened it round the neck of the fawn; then she gathered some soft green rushes, and braided them into a soft string, which she fastened to the fawn's golden collar, and then led him away into the depths of the forest. After wandering about for some time, they at last found a little deserted hut, and the sister was overjoyed, for she thought it would form a nice shelter for them both. So she led the fawn in, and then went out alone, to gather moss and dried leaves, to make him a soft bed. Every morning she went out to gather dried roots, nuts, and berries, for her own food, and sweet fresh grass for the fawn, which he ate out of her hand, and the poor little animal went out with her, and played about as happy as the day was long. When evening came, and the poor sister felt tired, she would kneel down and say her prayers, and then lay her delicate head on the fawn's back, which was a soft warm pillow, on which she could sleep peacefully. Had this dear”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“On every side were stretched the bodies of men and animals apparently lifeless.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“that the gentleman who owned it was vastly civil and pleasing. Soon after their return home, she told her mother that she had no longer any dislike to”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“Oh, if I only had a little child, I should like it to be as fair as snow, as rosy as the red blood, and with hair and eyes as black as ebony.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“We would not give it thee for all the gold in the world.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie

“All the queens of my acquaintance have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve; and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mind to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patient queen as she was.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“Then had her envious heart rest, at least such rest as a heart full of envy and malice ever can have.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“The fairy tale belongs to the child and ought always to be within his reach, not only because it is his special literary form and his nature craves it, but because it is one of the most vital of the textbooks offered to him in the school of life. In ultimate importance it outranks the arithmetic, the grammar, the geography, the manuals of science; for without the aid of the imagination none of these books is really comprehensible.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“The myths record the earliest attempt at an explanation of the world and its life; the fairy tale records the free and joyful play of the imagination, opening doors through hard conditions to the spirit, which craves power, freedom, happiness; righting wrongs and redressing injuries; defeating base designs; rewarding patience and virtue; crowning true love with happiness;”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“the sweet little creature who received him so courteously; accordingly every day was spent in new amusements. The prince had almost forgotten his country and relations, and sometimes even regretted that he was not a cat, so great was his affection for his mewing companions. "Alas!" said he to the white cat, "how will it afflict me to leave you whom I love so much! Either make yourself a lady, or make me a cat." She smiled at the prince's wish, but made him scarcely any reply. At length the twelvemonth was nearly expired; the white cat, who knew the very day when the prince was to reach his father's palace, reminded him”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“instinctive perception of the fact that while immense toil lies behind the artist's skill, the soul of the creation came from beyond the world of work and the making of it was a bit of play. The man of creative spirit is often a tireless worker, but in his happiest hours he is at play; for all work, when it rises into freedom and power, is play.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“forces lie just outside the range of physical sight, but entirely within the range of spiritual vision, precisely as the tellers of these old stories divined; mystery and wonder enfold all things, and not only evoke the full play of the mind, but flood it with intimations and suggestions of the presence of more elusive and subtle forces, of finer and more obedient powers, as the world of fairies, magi and demons enfolded the ancient earth of daily toil and danger.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“There are few chapters in the biography of the childhood of men of genius more significant than those which describe imaginary worlds which were, for a time, as real as the actual world in which the boy lived.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“did all in his power to render his guests comfortable; the rich and the great were not invited.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“One Eye slid down from the tree, and Three Eyes climbed up. But Three Eyes”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“It is a very old and widely spread superstition that when a dog howls at night someone not far away is dying or will soon die. Many people are uncomfortable when they hear a dog howling after dark, not because they believe that dogs have any knowledge that death is present or coming, but because their ancestors for many centuries believed that the howling of a dog was ominous,”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Myths That Every Child Should Know: A Selection of the Classic Myths of All Times for Young People

“its earliest form, a spontaneous and instinctive endeavor to shape the facts of the world to meet the needs of the imagination, the cravings of the heart.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“Dear brother, do not drink," she began; but she was too late, for her brother had already knelt by the stream to drink, and as the first drop of water touched his lips he became a fawn. How the little sister wept over the enchanted brother,”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

“I love you better than all in the world besides, dear little Snow-white, and you must come with me to my father's castle and be my wife.”
― Hamilton Wright Mabie, Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know