515. If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales. ~Albert Einstein

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Child of the pure, unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder!
Though time be fleet and I and thou
Are half a life asunder,
Thy loving smile will surely hail
The love-gift of a fairy tale.
~Lewis Carroll

Screen shot 2014-04-21 at 3.05.20 PM

The Toadstool

THERE ‘s a thing that grows by the fainting flower,
And springs in the shade of the lady’s bower;
The lily shrinks, and the rose turns pale,
When they feel its breath in the summer gale,
And the tulip curls its leaves in pride,
And the blue-eyed violet starts aside;
But the lily may flaunt, and the tulip stare,
For what does the honest toadstool care?
She does not glow in a painted vest,
And she never blooms on the maiden’s breast;
But she comes, as the saintly sisters do,
In a modest suit of a Quaker hue.
And, when the stars in the evening skies
Are weeping dew from their gentle eyes,
The toad comes out from his hermit cell,
The tale of his faithful love to tell.

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

They send forth their children as a flock: their little ones dance about. ~Job 21:11   ✝

**Today is my daughter’s birthday, and although she’s a grown woman with children of her own, I always loved reading her fairy tales when she was young.

24 thoughts on “515. If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales. ~Albert Einstein”

  4. Happy Birthday to your daughter, Natalie. I loved listening to them as a child and reading them to my daughters, too. I’m sure they had something to do with my falling in love with the written word. Blessings to you and yours! ❤

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    • Thank you, Bette, I’ll pass your happy birthday wishes on to Nikki. I loved fairly tales as a child too and then again when I read them to Nikki. I absoluely adored the Winnie the Pooh books and think I read them as much for me as for her. Maybe that is where you and I learned to love the written word and stories. My grandchildren tell me I’m a great story teller when I tell them about things that happened in my childhood or their mom’s. Have a great week! Hugs, N 🙂 ❤

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  6. This is so lovely Natalie. I’m sure I’ll have fond memories of times with my daughter too once she’s grown. A very happy birthday to your daughter. By the way, I am a huge fan of Einstein quotes.
    🙂 ♥

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    • Thank you, Staci, I pass on your happy birthday wishes to Nikki. I’m a huge fan of Einstein quotes as well. As a matter of fact I told my husband, James, yesterday that I would really have like to know him. Have a great week, missy. Hugs, N 🙂 ❤

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  7. Ah Natalie! I absolutely adore Einstein’s quote… like Staci, I’m “huge fan” of his quotes 🙂 I found one I especially like : “All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.”… and happy birthday to your daughter: she is lucky to have a mother like YOU 🙂 – and her children are VERY lucky to have a grand-mother like NATALIE 🙂 ♥ I would be so proud to have a super great generous and spiritual blogger as a grand’ma 🙂 🙂 have a nice week dear Natalie :-)♥

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    • I’m a huge fan of Einstein’s too! Thanks for the happy birthday wishes for my daughter. I shall pass them on to Nikki! She has blessed me everyday of her life and I’ve tried to be a good mom to her. We have a great relationship and I adore her husband and children too. James and I have been very blessed by Nikki and her family. Thank you for your very generous words about them being lucky to have me as a mom and grandmother. I pray you have a very nice week, too mon ami!!! 🙂 ❤ 🙂 ❤

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  8. I love Fairy Tales!!!! 🙂 Ive loved them all my life! 🙂 I am reading The Blue Fairy Book now, I love it! 🙂 I also write, as you know, my own Fairy Tales, I used to write them in norwegian for a norwegian children’s magazine, but lately I am writing in english 🙂 My granny used to read Fairy Tales for us grandchildren, it was lovely. But mostly I read them myself. I learned to read when I was 4, and after that I just couldn’t stop reading! Your children and grandchildren are so lucky to have such a lovely Fairy Tale-reading mother and granny like you! 🙂 It is such a precious gift to give your children and grandchildren so lovely memories to cherish when they are adults 🙂 ❤ ❤ ❤

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    • I’ve loved them all my life too, Trini. I read them as a child and then couldn’t resist reading them to Nikki and then her children. I read to both Nikki and her boys until they were well over ten years of age. I even used to read to my students when I was teaching. My grandsons love for me to tell them stories of my childhood as I’ve had such a wonderful one and I hope those stories stay with them. I hope you have a wonderful time on your poetry sabbatical.
      Hugs and love, N 🙂 ❤

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  10. So sweet of you dear Natalie ! I am sure she found your brainwave as tender as I find it ! Hope she has Many Happy Returns with her affectionate mum on her side! The Einstein quote included is really sage ; he believed that imagination is more important than knowledge as knowledge is limited while imagination embraces the entire world.I so much enjoyed your approach my dear friend ! It seems your imagination is flying in very high levels … All the best to you and your daughter!
    Love ❤ & warm wishes 🙂 ❤ , Doda 🙂 xxx

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    • Thanks, Doda, I pass your happy birthday wishes on to Nikki.
      You hit the nail squarely on the head, my friend. Fairy tales helped developed our imaginations and that is the key to so many things. Funny that you should comment on my levels of imagination. One of my students raised his hand in class one day and when I asked him what he needed. He said he just wanted me to know that I was the most imaginative person he had ever known. I thought it was a lovely compliment as is yours. I hope you have a marvelous week, Doda!!! Hugs and Love, N 🙂 xxx ❤

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      • Hi my sweet friend Natalie ! I am so glad you appreciated my comment and my viewpoint on imagination through Einstein’s brilliant thoughts.
        It seems your student and I have the capacity for judging … Also tell Nikki apart from the birthday wishes that she must be proud of her mum … Blessings and love ❤ to you and yours dear Natalie 🙂

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