Johnson, Samuel -- Comment (19 Sep 1777)

Dave — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 15:29:14 +0000

If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend my life in driving briskly in a post-chaise with a pretty woman.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (19 Sep 1777)

In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)

Barrie, James -- Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 “When Wendy Grew Up” [Jane to Wendy] (1911)

Dave — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:25:50 +0000

“Why can’t you fly now, mother?”
“Because I am grown up, dearest. When people grow up they forget the way.”
“Why do they forget the way?”
“Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless. It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly.”

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 “When Wendy Grew Up” [Jane to Wendy] (1911)

In his 1908 sequel play, When Wendy Grew Up, An Afterthought (some which was eventually folded into the main play (1904, published 1928) in Act 5, though not these lines), this is rendered:

JANE: Why can't you fly now, Mother?
WENDY: Because I'm grown up, sweetheart; when people grow up they forget the way.
JANE: Why do they forget the way?
WENDY: Because they are no longer young and innocent. It is only the young and innocent that can fly.

WIST Quotations

Johnson, Samuel -- Comment (19 Sep 1777)

Barrie, James -- Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 “When Wendy Grew Up” [Jane to Wendy] (1911)