“The whole tradition of [oral] story telling is endangered by modern technology. Although telling stories is a very fundamental human attribute, to the extent that psychiatry now often treats 'narrative loss' -- the inability to construct a story of one's… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
“I believe that the great stretches of forests in northern Europe, with their constant seasonal changes, their restricted views, their astonish biological diversity, their secret gifts and perils and the knowledge that you have to go through them to get… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
Natural history is not taught in seminary. This is curious, as most people in pastoral ministry are about 567 times more likely to be asked about cosmology or sub-nuclear physics or human biology or evolution than they are to be asked about irregular Greek verbs or the danger of the patripassionist heresy. If we monotheists are going to go around… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
Being alone in our present society raises an important question about identity and well-being. — Sara Maitland Copy Share Image
“Now fairy stories are at risk too, like the forests. Padraic Column has suggested that artificial lighting dealt them a mortal wound: when people could read and be productive after dark, something fundamental changed, and there was no longer need or space for the ancient oral tradition. The stories were often confined to books, which makes the text static, and… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
“The whole tradition of [oral] story telling is endangered by modern technology. Although telling stories is a very fundamental human attribute, to the extent that psychiatry now often treats 'narrative loss' -- the inability to construct a story of one's own life -- as a loss of identity or 'personhood,' it is not natural but an art form -- you… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
“Forests to the [early] Northern European peoples were dangerous and generous, domestic and wild, beautiful and terrible. And the forests were the terrain out of which fairy stories, one of our earliest and most vital cultural forms, evolved. The mysterious secrets and silences, gifts and perils of the forest are both the background to and source of these tales… Forests… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
My father taught me to be independent and cocky and free thinking, but he could not stand it if I disagreed with him. — Sara Maitland Copy Share Image
“I believe that the great stretches of forests in northern Europe, with their constant seasonal changes, their restricted views, their astonish biological diversity, their secret gifts and perils and the knowledge that you have to go through them to get anywhere else, created the themes and ethics of the fairy tales we know best. There are secrets, hidden identities, cunning… — Sara Maitland Copy Share
Of course we also live in a world of great beauty, sacrificial and passionate love, tenderness, prosperity, courage and joy. But quite a lot… — Sara Maitland Copy Share Image
“Remember that it is good for children to be bored sometimes. Children who are not continually provided with stimuli develop more active imaginations, a… — Sara Maitland Copy Share Image
[Georg Cantor was the first to prove that there could be a series of infinities; that infinities come in an infinite number of sizes.]… — Sara Maitland Copy Share Image
If you tell people enough times that they are unhappy, incomplete, possibly insane and definitely selfish there is bound to come a grey morning… — Sara Maitland Copy Share Image