Don't ever write just for a trend or fad, because it's a moving target, and by the time you get your work out there, the trend or fad is gone. Dig deep; don't be afraid to write fiercely. Expose your heart.
Jane YolenRead
I believe that culture begins in the cradle . . .To do without tales and stories and books is to lose humanity's past, is to have no star map for our future.
Interpretation
Culture and literature are essential for understanding humanity and guiding future generations.
Jane Yolen emphasizes the vital role that stories, tales, and books play in shaping culture and preserving humanity's history. She argues that without these narratives, individuals lose their connection to the past and lack guidance for the future, much like navigating without a star map.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of literacy in schools.
Don't ever write just for a trend or fad, because it's a moving target, and by the time you get your work out there, the trend or fad is gone. Dig deep; don't be afraid to write fiercely. Expose your heart.
I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told.
What makes a good book? Scholars and critics have been debating that question for decades. I like books that touch my head and my heart at the same time.
Just write. If you have to make a choice, if you say, 'Oh well, I'm going to put the writing away until my children are grown,' then you don't really want to be a writer. If you want to be a writer, you do your writing... If you don't do it, you probably don't want to be a writer, you just want to have written and be famous—which is very different.
Childrens books change lives. Stories pour into the hearts of children and help make them what they become.
Folklore is the perfect second skin. From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world.
A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.
I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.
You write for two people, yourself and your audience, who are usually better educated and at least as smart.
One of the first things a family tries to teach its children is the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. One of the first things our schools do is destroy that distinction.
Knowledge without follow-through is worse than no knowledge.
College is something you complete. Life is something you experience.
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