There never was a merry world since the fairies left off dancing, and the Parson left conjuring. – John Selden, "Parson," Table Talk, 1689

Nothing can be truer than fairy wisdom…. It is true as sunbeams… – Douglas Jerrold, “Our Honeymoon: An Apology and An Explanation,” in Punch, Volxx

[W]hen the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl. – James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan