---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The 5-year-old sees that Paradise…"
description: "\"“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths that control and guide our lives. And myth i..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg"
---

#  The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in…

![“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths that control and guide our lives. And myth is meaning divined rather than defined, implicit rather than explicit.” quote by George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg)

> ““The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths that control and guide our lives. And myth is meaning divined rather than defined, implicit rather than explicit.””

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Children grasp truth through stories and myths, which convey meaning beyond explicit definitions.

**In simple terms:** Myths give deeper meaning.

Key Takeaway

Value storytelling for insight.

Themes

myth meaning children culture interpretation

Mood

reflective inquisitive

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- education
- parenting
- media analysis
- creative writing

Key Concepts

narrative psychology symbolic thought cognitive development

Questions to Reflect On

- What myths shape your worldview?
- How do myths influence decisions?

A Different Perspective

Overreliance on myth can obscure factual understanding.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Fairy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/)

## Related quotes

> [You look at the Koran or the Bible, they all tell the same stories. You see them as the stories of the Middle East.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/you-look-at-the-koran-or-the-bible-they-all-tell-the-same-stories-you/)

[Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/)

> [“While I generally find that great myths are great precisely because they represent and embody great universal truths (and will explore several such myths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/while-i-generally-find-that-great-myths-are-great-precisely-because-2/)

[M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/)

> [Our connection to the great myths of our natures is murky. A mother might see the Medea in herself without imagining she will ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/our-connection-to-the-great-myths-of-our-natures-is-murky-a-mother/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [While I generally find that great myths are great precisely because they represent and embody great universal truths, the myth of romantic love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/while-i-generally-find-that-great-myths-are-great-precisely-because/)

[M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/)

> [“All of the great mythologies and much of the mythic story-telling of the world are from the male point of view. When I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/all-of-the-great-mythologies-and-much-of-the-mythic-story-telling-of/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [“Contrary to some of our great myths, the universe was not created once upon a time, but rather is constantly being created and re-created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/contrary-to-some-of-our-great-myths-the-universe-was-not-created-once/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [A myth is, of course, not a fairy story. It is the presentation of facts belonging to one category in the idioms appropriate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/a-myth-is-of-course-not-a-fairy-story-it-is-the-presentation-of-facts/)

[Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/)

> ["And they lived happily ever after" is one of the most tragic sentences in literature. It's tragic because it's falsehood. It is a myth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-l-liebman/and-they-lived-happily-ever-after-is-one-of-the-most-tragic-sentences/)

[Joshua L. Liebman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-l-liebman/)

> [Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/folklore-legends-myths-and-fairy-tales-have-followed-childhood/)

[L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/)

> [My mother might find a thin gold chain at the back of a drawer, wadded into an impossibly tight knot, and give it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/my-mother-might-find-a-thin-gold-chain-at-the-back-of-a-drawer-wadded/)

[Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/)

> [I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children stories. They were better than that. They just were. Adult stories never made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-liked-myths-they-weren-t-adult-stories-and-they-weren-t-children/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [In a sense, every human construction, whether mental or material, is a component in a landscape of fear because it exists in constant chaos.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yi-fu-tuan/in-a-sense-every-human-construction-whether-mental-or-material-is-a/)

[Yi-Fu Tuan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yi-fu-tuan/)

> [Fairy tales, which teach a moral lesson, are about ourselves. Myth deals with forces greater than ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lapine/fairy-tales-which-teach-a-moral-lesson-are-about-ourselves-myth-deals/)

[James Lapine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lapine/)

> [Canada is a myth people made up to entertain children, like the Tooth Fairy. There’s no such place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/canada-is-a-myth-people-made-up-to-entertain-children-like-the-tooth/)

[Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/)

> [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/)

[Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/)

## More by George Sheehan

> [“The runner is coming to know, or will know if he runs enough...that the universe is the smallest divisible unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-runner-is-coming-to-know-or-will-know-if-he-runs-enough-that-the/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Courage, then, has nothing to do with a single act of bravery. Courage is how one lives, not one specific incident. Just as mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/courage-then-has-nothing-to-do-with-a-single-act-of-bravery-courage/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the ability to tune out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-what-my-aunt-called-convenient/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfection-wrote-kierkegaard/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“There were a lot of people in the service,” says Dickey, “who cried when they were discharged because they knew they would have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/there-were-a-lot-of-people-in-the-service-says-dickey-who-cried-when/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“The trouble with this country,” the late John Berryman once told fellow poet James Dickey, “is that a man can live his entire life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-trouble-with-this-country-the-late-john-berryman-once-told-fellow/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Running is just such a monestary-- a retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/running-is-just-such-a-monestary-a-retreat-a-place-to-commune-with/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Disease, then, is one of those bad experiences that turns information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom. The bad experiences that make you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/disease-then-is-one-of-those-bad-experiences-that-turns-information/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“If you think that life has passed you by, or, even worse, that you are living someone else’s life, you can still prove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/if-you-think-that-life-has-passed-you-by-or-even-worse-that-you-are/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Boredom, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder. ’There is no such thing as an uninteresting subject,’ said Chesterton. ’The only thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/boredom-like-beauty-is-in-the-mind-of-the-beholder-there-is-no-such/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Thomas Merton, another solitary, understood that. The beginning of freedom, he wrote, is not liberation from the body but liberation from the mind. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/thomas-merton-another-solitary-understood-that-the-beginning-of/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“I am a lonely figure when I run the roads. People wonder how far I have come, how far I have to go. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-am-a-lonely-figure-when-i-run-the-roads-people-wonder-how-far-i/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Writing, someone said, is turning blood into ink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/writing-someone-said-is-turning-blood-into-ink/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“Anyone with a sense of humor can see that life is a joke, not a tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/anyone-with-a-sense-of-humor-can-see-that-life-is-a-joke-not-a-tragedy/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

> [“The athlete doesn’t stop smoking and start training. He starts training and finds he has stopped smoking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-athlete-doesn-t-stop-smoking-and-start-training-he-starts/)

[George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

[Explore all 25 George Sheehan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/)

## More Fairy quotes

> [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I know my hair is out of the '60's, my clothes are '50's and the shoes I wear are from the '40's. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/i-know-my-hair-is-out-of-the-60-s-my-clothes-are-50-s-and-the-shoes-i/)

[Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/)

> [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/)

[Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/)

> [“You can't get mad at a real ending. Some of them are ugly. It's the fake happily ever afters that should piss you off.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/you-can-t-get-mad-at-a-real-ending-some-of-them-are-ugly-it-s-the/)

[Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/)

> [“ Happily-ever-afters don't come in happily-every-days . They are found at the end of challenges-ever-met, promises-ever-kept, and tears-ever-wept.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/happily-ever-afters-don-t-come-in-happily-every-days-they-are-found/)

[Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/)

> [A real flame of love is a subtle thing. It burns as a will-o'-the-wisp, dancing onward to fairy lands of delight. It roars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dreiser/a-real-flame-of-love-is-a-subtle-thing-it-burns-as-a-will-o-the-wisp/)

[Theodore Dreiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dreiser/)

> [“But even if they could go home it would be difficult for me to tell you what the moral of the story is. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/but-even-if-they-could-go-home-it-would-be-difficult-for-me-to-tell/)

[Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/)

> [One of the first houses we lived in was like out of a fairy story. We had a stream that ran through our garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emilia-clarke/one-of-the-first-houses-we-lived-in-was-like-out-of-a-fairy-story-we/)

[Emilia Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emilia-clarke/)

> [“If two people see a fairy appear, eat a starfish, and dive into the tile floor without so much as a splash, neither can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaydeon-k-moore/if-two-people-see-a-fairy-appear-eat-a-starfish-and-dive-into-the/)

Kaydeon K. Moore

> [Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/poems-come-from-ordinary-experiences-and-objects-i-think-out-of/)

[Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/)

> [Here is the world of imagination, hopes, and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment, the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/here-is-the-world-of-imagination-hopes-and-dreams-in-this-timeless/)

[Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/)

> [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

> [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/)

[Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/)

> [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/)

[Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/)

> [I grew up watching monster movies and horror movies, which I felt were like fairy tales and I think this always spoke to me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-burton/i-grew-up-watching-monster-movies-and-horror-movies-which-i-felt-were/)

[Tim Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-burton/)

[Browse all 1,977 Fairy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths that control and guide our lives. And myth is meaning divined rather than defined, implicit rather than explicit.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Sheehan"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correctly-not-in-technology-but-in/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Fairy"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correctly-not-in-technology-but-in/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/george-sheehan-23131_storytelling_the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correc_968403.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths…” — George Sheehan",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "George Sheehan",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correctly-not-in-technology-but-in/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correctly-not-in-technology-but-in/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
