“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ― Neil Gaiman, Coraline
I love that quote too! I have it from the introduction, I believe, to Smoke and Mirrors:
>Fairy tales, as G. K. Chesterton once said, are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.
The corresponding original Chesterton quote is supposedly/apocryphally:
>Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.
I like the original for the "children already know" portion, but I prefer Gaiman's for lyricism and, perhaps ironically given TFA, saying "defeated" instead of "killed."
>Fairy tales, as G. K. Chesterton once said, are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.
The corresponding original Chesterton quote is supposedly/apocryphally:
>Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.
I like the original for the "children already know" portion, but I prefer Gaiman's for lyricism and, perhaps ironically given TFA, saying "defeated" instead of "killed."
At any rate, Chesterton didn't say it in so many words. There's some back-and-forth noted here, seems like it's oft-misquoted—<https://www.tumblr.com/neil-gaiman/101407141743/every-versio...>—with a longer version here: <https://saveversusallwands.blogspot.com/2016/05/tracking-bac...>.