Wendy, Wendy, when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars.
James M. BarrieRead
It was then that Hook bit him. Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare, horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but he will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the deep impact of experiencing unfairness for the first time in childhood.
In this quote, James M. Barrie illustrates how the experience of unfairness fundamentally changes a child. It highlights the innocence that children possess when they believe they deserve fairness, and the profound disillusionment that follows when they encounter injustice. The quote suggests that while children may forgive adults who are unfair to them, they lose a part of their innocence in the process, and this loss is difficult to recover from. Even though the character Peter seems to overcome this experience, the essence of the quote conveys that such unfairness marks a pivotal moment in the transition from childhood innocence to a more complex understanding of human relationships.
Themes
UnfairnessChildhoodInnocenceForgivenessRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech discussing childhood development, one might refer to this quote to illustrate the lasting effects of unfairness.
More from James M. Barrie
All quotes →His lordship may compel us to be equal upstairs, but there will never be equality in the servants' hall.
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The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.
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Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.
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But the years came and went without bringing the careless boy; and when they met again Wendy was a married woman, and Peter was no more to her than a little dust in the box in which she had kept her toys.
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Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.
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