By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.
J. K. RowlingRead
Children's books aren't textbooks. Their primary purpose isn't supposed to be "Pick this up and it will teach you this." It's not how literature should be. You probably do learn something from every book you pick up, but it might be simply how to laugh.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children's books aim to entertain and inspire rather than strictly educate.
J.K. Rowling emphasizes that the primary goal of children's literature is not merely to impart knowledge or lessons, but to engage young readers through enjoyment and creativity. While such books can teach valuable life lessons indirectly, their foremost purpose is to spark imagination and joy, reflecting the idea that learning often occurs through playful experiences and emotional connections rather than formal instruction.
Themes
Children'S LiteratureEducationImaginationJoyReadingCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
A teacher might use this quote to encourage parents to read for enjoyment with their kids instead of just for homework.
More from J. K. Rowling
All quotes →Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?” James lifted an invisible sword. “‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my dad.” Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him. “Got a problem with that?” “No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy —” “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” interjected Sirius.
J. K. RowlingRead
Depression isn't just being a bit sad. It's feeling nothing. It's not wanting to be alive anymore.
J. K. RowlingRead
I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit.
J. K. RowlingRead
Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?
J. K. RowlingRead
The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
J. K. RowlingRead
Similar quotes
The dumbing down of America is evident in the slow decay of substantive content, a kind of celebration of ignorance.
Carl SaganRead
I got a scholarship to Seattle University and I was writing arrangements for singers and everybody. But the music course was too dry and I really wanted to get away from home.
Quincy JonesRead
A teacher who establishes rapport with the taught, becomes one with them, learns more from them than he teaches them. He who learns nothing from his disciples is, in my opinion, worthless. Whenever I talk with someone I learn from him. I take from him more than I give him.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Do not be afraid to ask for help. Nobody gets through college on their own.
Michelle ObamaRead
No country can possibly move ahead, no free society can possibly be sustained, unless it has an educated citizenry whose qualities of mind and heart permit it to take part in the complicated and increasingly sophisticated decisions that pour not only upon the President and upon the Congress, but upon all the citizens who exercise the ultimate power.
John F. KennedyRead
They teach in academies far too many things, and far too much that is useless.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead