A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
With 'Stardust', I hope what I was doing is giving 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds and 25-year-olds and 60-year-olds a chance to get the same sense of wonder, the same feeling, the same magic, that they got in reading the classic fairy tales as children.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Gaiman aims to evoke childhood wonder and magic in adults through storytelling.
In this quote, Neil Gaiman expresses his desire to recapture the enchanting feelings that classic fairy tales brought to children, hoping that his work, 'Stardust', will evoke similar sentiments in readers of all ages. He emphasizes the timeless nature of wonder and magic found in stories, suggesting that these feelings are universal and can be experienced by anyone, regardless of their age.
Themes
WonderMagicStorytellingFairy TalesChildhood
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, you might reference Gaiman to inspire artists to connect with their inner child.
More from Neil Gaiman
All quotes →Jesus. Low-Key Lyesmith," said Shadow. and then he heard what he was saying and he understood. "Loki," he said. "Loki Lie-smith." "You're slow," said Loki, "but you get there in the end." And his lips twisted into a scarred smile and the embers danced in the shadows of his eyes.
Neil GaimanRead
As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
Neil GaimanRead
The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Mr. Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored.
Neil GaimanRead
Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
Neil GaimanRead
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
Neil GaimanRead
Similar quotes
It's easy to assume that just because you make something in small volumes, not using many tools, that there is integrity and care - that is a false assumption.
Jonathan IveRead
Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fulfilled all the rules of art.
Charles DickensRead
I think you reveal yourself by what you choose to photograph, but I prefer photographs that tell more about the subject. There's nothing much interesting to tell about me; what's interesting is the person I'm photographing, and that's what I try to show. [...] I think each photographer has a point of view and a way of looking at the world... that has to do with your subject matter and how you choose to present it. What's interesting is letting people tell you about themselves in the picture.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
Everything we know about Hamilton, we knew when he was alive, because he told us.
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
Architecture is a art when one consciously or unconsciously creates aesthetic emotion in the atmosphere and when this environment produces well being.
Luis BarraganRead
Sometimes my mistakes turn into interesting music because I do things that aren't supposed to be done.
Ziggy MarleyRead