--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have been writing fairy tales for as…" description: "\"I have been writing fairy tales for as long as I can remember. Not much has changed in terms of my natural attraction to the narrative techniques of fa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/kate-bernheimer-20843_abstraction_i-have-been-writing-fairy-tales-for-as-l_798765.png" --- # I have been writing fairy tales for as long as I can… ![“I have been writing fairy tales for as long as I can remember. Not much has changed in terms of my natural attraction to the narrative techniques of fairy tales. My appreciation of them in the traditional stories has deepened, especially of flat and unadorned language, intuitive logic…” quote by Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/kate-bernheimer-20843_abstraction_i-have-been-writing-fairy-tales-for-as-l_798765.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/kate-bernheimer-20843_abstraction_i-have-been-writing-fairy-tales-for-as-l_798765.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/kate-bernheimer-20843_abstraction_i-have-been-writing-fairy-tales-for-as-l_798765.png) > “I have been writing fairy tales for as long as I can remember. Not much has changed in terms of my natural attraction to the narrative techniques of fairy tales. My appreciation of them in the traditional stories has deepened, especially of flat and unadorned language, intuitive logic, abstraction, and everyday magic.” [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author reflects on a lifelong passion for fairy tales, valuing their simple language, intuitive logic, abstraction, and everyday magic. **In simple terms:** A love for fairy tales’ simple, magical style. Key Takeaway Embrace and study the core elements of fairy tales. Themes creativity storytelling tradition Mood reflective inspired Type literary educational When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching literature - creative brainstorming - cultural analysis Key Concepts narrative simplicity mythic logic magical realism Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate fairy‑tale simplicity into contemporary storytelling? - What everyday magic can you highlight in your work? A Different Perspective Modern narratives may demand more complexity than traditional fairy tales. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Appreciation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appreciation/) [Attraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attraction/) [Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday/) [Fairy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/) [Fairy tale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy-tale/) [Fairy tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy-tales/) [Intuitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuitive/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I think I've learned to be mindful. 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When I'm writing I'm going to do it five to six days a week and I'm going to work for four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candace-bushnell/it-s-a-job-when-i-m-writing-i-m-going-to-do-it-five-to-six-days-a/) [Candace Bushnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candace-bushnell/) > [I'm used to writing fairy tales that can be somewhat dark, and the truth is that in fairy tales, romances are always problematic. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodora-goss/i-m-used-to-writing-fairy-tales-that-can-be-somewhat-dark-and-the/) [Theodora Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodora-goss/) > [I'm not writing fairy tales or object lessons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-m-not-writing-fairy-tales-or-object-lessons/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [As a reader, coming to my reading as a writer immersed in fairytales, I can't help but notice in so many stories, plays, poems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/as-a-reader-coming-to-my-reading-as-a-writer-immersed-in-fairytales-i/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [I have the manual, and the sad thing is that many of the techniques are exactly the same ones with a few enhancements by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-mcgovern/i-have-the-manual-and-the-sad-thing-is-that-many-of-the-techniques/) [Ray McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-mcgovern/) > [When you get a black belt, it’s not the number of techniques you know, but how well you know them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caio-terra/when-you-get-a-black-belt-it-s-not-the-number-of-techniques-you-know/) [Caio Terra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caio-terra/) > [The use of these techniques against these terrorists made us safer. It really did work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hayden/the-use-of-these-techniques-against-these-terrorists-made-us-safer-it/) [Michael Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hayden/) > [I can be the most skilled person in the world, but if everyone else at my firm lacks skills, my employer is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-j-bartik/i-can-be-the-most-skilled-person-in-the-world-but-if-everyone-else-at/) Timothy J. Bartik > [We look at distant exploding stars called supernovae, and we've developed techniques to measure how far away they are and how fast they're moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-riess/we-look-at-distant-exploding-stars-called-supernovae-and-we-ve/) [Adam Riess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-riess/) > [Some days, I know beauty techniques like it's my job, and other days I can't do my makeup for the life of me. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-serratos/some-days-i-know-beauty-techniques-like-it-s-my-job-and-other-days-i/) [Christian Serratos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-serratos/) > [I'm really fascinated and you know I've been wondering about that usage of language, various breathing techniques and why in these practices language is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/i-m-really-fascinated-and-you-know-i-ve-been-wondering-about-that/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“All the tools, techniques and technology in the world are nothing without the head, heart and hands to use them wisely, kindly and mindfully”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/all-the-tools-techniques-and-technology-in-the-world-are-nothing/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) ## More by Kate Bernheimer > [As I read more and more fairy tales as an adult, I found massive collusion between their 'subjects' and those in my fiction: childhood,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/as-i-read-more-and-more-fairy-tales-as-an-adult-i-found-massive/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [In the old fairy tales, often a 'moral' was tacked on at the end of the story - say, if a book was going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/in-the-old-fairy-tales-often-a-moral-was-tacked-on-at-the-end-of-the/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [“Doll-less, invisible friend-less, finally more comfortable in fear than in gladness, Astrid began to live in her head. Or rather inside a small tunnel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/doll-less-invisible-friend-less-finally-more-comfortable-in-fear-than/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [Well documented, the relationship of literature to myth in the Western world has undergone much change over the millennia, as first the age of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/well-documented-the-relationship-of-literature-to-myth-in-the-western/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [When I wrote the eight fairy tales that appear in 'Horse, Flower, Bird' I was working toward a completely new form of artistic expression,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/when-i-wrote-the-eight-fairy-tales-that-appear-in-horse-flower-bird-i/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [When humans become gods, when our wings grow so great as to beat about the very edges of the earth, no one can answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/when-humans-become-gods-when-our-wings-grow-so-great-as-to-beat-about/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [“Beer bottles, whiskey bottles, brown glass, green. They fell to the lawn and I'd feel serene. Adam was king to my stilted queen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/beer-bottles-whiskey-bottles-brown-glass-green-they-fell-to-the-lawn/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [I often visit Maria Tatar's 'The Grimm Reader' for a cold dose of courage. Her translations come from the Brothers Grimm, whose now-famous collection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/i-often-visit-maria-tatar-s-the-grimm-reader-for-a-cold-dose-of/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [When I first read Anne Frank's 'Diary of a Young Girl,' I saw for the first time that a girl could be a writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/when-i-first-read-anne-frank-s-diary-of-a-young-girl-i-saw-for-the/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [People tend to think of fairy tales as 'archetypal.' They are also extremely sensual, something which translates well over the ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/people-tend-to-think-of-fairy-tales-as-archetypal-they-are-also/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [“The home in which you reside it not forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/the-home-in-which-you-reside-it-not-forever/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [The fact that fairy tales remain a literary underdog-undervalued and undermined-even as they shape so many popular stories, redoubles my certainty that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/the-fact-that-fairy-tales-remain-a-literary-underdog-undervalued-and/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [Books are no different from goats! They enjoy an afternoon out on the lawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/books-are-no-different-from-goats-they-enjoy-an-afternoon-out-on-the/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [As scientists have discovered - or perhaps explained is a better word, or perhaps identified - we now live in the age of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/as-scientists-have-discovered-or-perhaps-explained-is-a-better-word/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) > [“We, in our less than divine wisdom but apparently quite divine powers, are now transforming the planet like an Olympian might have created an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bernheimer/we-in-our-less-than-divine-wisdom-but-apparently-quite-divine-powers/) [Kate Bernheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) [Explore all 30 Kate Bernheimer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bernheimer/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) Banesh Hoffmann > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. 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