--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because the great thing about fairy tales…" description: "\"Because the great thing about fairy tales and folk tales is that there is no authentic text. It's not like the text of Paradise Lost or James Joyce's U..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/philip-pullman-525_fairy_because-the-great-thing-about-fairy-tale_2520335.jpg" --- # Because the great thing about fairy tales and folk tales… ![“Because the great thing about fairy tales and folk tales is that there is no authentic text. It's not like the text of Paradise Lost or James Joyce's Ulysses, and you have to adhere to that exact text.” quote by Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/philip-pullman-525_fairy_because-the-great-thing-about-fairy-tale_2520335.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/philip-pullman-525_fairy_because-the-great-thing-about-fairy-tale_2520335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/philip-pullman-525_fairy_because-the-great-thing-about-fairy-tale_2520335.jpg) > “Because the great thing about fairy tales and folk tales is that there is no authentic text. It's not like the text of Paradise Lost or James Joyce's Ulysses, and you have to adhere to that exact text.” [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fairy and folk tales are fluid, not fixed texts, allowing creative freedom unlike canonical works. **In simple terms:** Stories can change; they aren't locked down. Key Takeaway Embrace flexibility in storytelling. Themes creativity storytelling freedom Mood playful reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching literature - adapting myths - creative writing - publishing Key Concepts folklore authenticity adaptation Questions to Reflect On - How does flexibility affect cultural transmission? - What limits arise without a fixed text? A Different Perspective Rigid adherence can stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [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/) [Great things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-things/) [Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise/) [Paradise Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise-lost/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) [Ulysses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ulysses/) ## Related quotes > [The great thing about fairy tales and folk tales is that there is no authentic text.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-great-thing-about-fairy-tales-and-folk-tales-is-that-there-is-no/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I wanted the chance to look again at very famous stories and see what made them work well, whether there were any ways in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-wanted-the-chance-to-look-again-at-very-famous-stories-and-see-what/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Folk tales are the most authentic way of understanding a region, its legend and people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-basu-prasad/folk-tales-are-the-most-authentic-way-of-understanding-a-region-its/) [Shweta Basu Prasad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-basu-prasad/) > [“Fairy tales and folk tales are for children and childlike people, not because they are little and inconsequential, but because they are as enormous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-esolen/fairy-tales-and-folk-tales-are-for-children-and-childlike-people-not/) [Anthony Esolen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-esolen/) > [Fairy tales and folk tales have always played a role in my writing in one way or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linn-ullmann/fairy-tales-and-folk-tales-have-always-played-a-role-in-my-writing-in/) Linn Ullmann > [I also like the whole idea of fairy tales and folk tales being a woman's domain, considered a lesser domain at the time they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/i-also-like-the-whole-idea-of-fairy-tales-and-folk-tales-being-a/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [ “novels \[4\]. It follows that authentic text—text written for native speakers—is inappropriate for unassisted ER by all but the most advanced learners. For this… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/novels-4-it-follows-that-authentic-text-text-written-for-native/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [On campuses, and when I speak to the younger intelligentsia, I am getting a hunger for the text - the authentic text for Jewish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-hertzberg/on-campuses-and-when-i-speak-to-the-younger-intelligentsia-i-am/) [Arthur Hertzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-hertzberg/) > [“one thing that I realized early on in thinking about this book, when I found, to my consternation, that I was writing a fantasy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/one-thing-that-i-realized-early-on-in-thinking-about-this-book-when-i/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“there was a sort of embarrassment about storytelling that struck home powerfully about one hundred years ago, at the beginning of modernism. We see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/there-was-a-sort-of-embarrassment-about-storytelling-that-struck-home/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Folk tales, which are usually written for children, become a bigger lesson for adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-basu-prasad/folk-tales-which-are-usually-written-for-children-become-a-bigger/) [Shweta Basu Prasad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-basu-prasad/) > [The Celtic folk-tales have been collected while the practice of story-telling is still in full vigour, though there is every sign that its term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-jacobs/the-celtic-folk-tales-have-been-collected-while-the-practice-of-story/) [Joseph Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-jacobs/) > [“I realize that for all my penchant in believing that there's more to the world than what we can see, that folk tales and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-lint/i-realize-that-for-all-my-penchant-in-believing-that-there-s-more-to/) [Charles de Lint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-lint/) > [Bare Foot Folk and is full of really interesting songs, Ange Hardy takes folk tales and creates new folk songs that sound traditional around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/bare-foot-folk-and-is-full-of-really-interesting-songs-ange-hardy/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [Over the centuries we have transformed the ancient myths and folk tales and made them into the fabric of our lives. Consciously and unconsciously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-zipes/over-the-centuries-we-have-transformed-the-ancient-myths-and-folk/) [Jack Zipes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-zipes/) ## More by Philip Pullman > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/religion-grants-its-adherents-malign-intoxicating-and-morally/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-don-t-need-lists-of-rights-and-wrongs-tables-of-do-s-and-don-ts-we/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-stolen-ideas-from-every-book-i-have-ever-read/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/all-the-stories-of-the-bible-that-i-know-came-to-me-first-from-my/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [What I do say is that I can write verse, and that the writing of verse in strict form is the best possible training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/what-i-do-say-is-that-i-can-write-verse-and-that-the-writing-of-verse/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Writing is tyranny ... but reading is democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/writing-is-tyranny-but-reading-is-democracy/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“Middlemarch is a novel that is diminished by being put on the screen. It can't help but be, because so much of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/middlemarch-is-a-novel-that-is-diminished-by-being-put-on-the-screen/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-maintained-a-passionate-interest-in-education-which-leads-me/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [And think what worrying does: has anyone ever added a single hour to the length of his life by worrying about it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/and-think-what-worrying-does-has-anyone-ever-added-a-single-hour-to/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“The question authors get asked more than any other is "Where do you get your ideas from?" And we all find a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-question-authors-get-asked-more-than-any-other-is-where-do-you/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-are-all-subject-to-the-fates-but-we-must-all-act-as-if-we-are-not/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/lonely-i-don-t-know-they-tell-me-this-is-cold-i-don-t-know-what-cold/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Just finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/just-finished-secrecy-truly-enthralling-both-as-a-love-story-and-as-a/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“As Auden is believed to have said, no poem saved a single Jew from the gas chambers. Never mind. Write the poems anyway. Play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/as-auden-is-believed-to-have-said-no-poem-saved-a-single-jew-from-the/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) [Explore all 479 Philip Pullman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## 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": "Because the great thing about fairy tales and folk tales is that there is no authentic text. 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