9 Quotes in Honor of Author Beatrix Potter’s Birthday

If you have ever wondered who wrote the famous kids anecdote, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” (because why wouldn’t you ask questions about classic literature?), we have the answer you’ve been looking for. Writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist, Helen Beatrix Potter (or Beatrix Potter if you’re referring to her pen name), is the famous writer behind the beloved kids’ fable.

She was born in 1866 and grew up in an upper middle class family in England. Much of her childhood was spent isolated from other children, which gave her ample time to daydream and create in her mind’s eye. The world first got a glimpse of Peter Rabbit in 1893 when Beatrix sent a letter to her former governess’ son, Noel, with drawings depicting the story of a mischievous rabbit named Peter. Little did Beatrix know that her love of storytelling and nature would turn into a global phenomenon that would span generations of children.

Beatrix died at the age of 77, but not without positively impacting the minds of children and the literary world. In honor of her birthday on July 28, we pay homage to this literary great with this collection of some of her most memorable words.

1. “Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest.”

2. “Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.”

3. “What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood?”

4. “There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.”

5. “I hold that a strongly marked personality can influence descendants for generations.”

6. “I am aware these little books don’t last long even if they are a success.”

7. “I hold an old-fashioned notion that a happy marriage is the crown of a woman’s life.”

8. “Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.”

9. “If I have done anything, even a little, to help small children enjoy honest, simple pleasures, I have done a bit of good.”

Who is one of your favorite classic children’s authors? Share them with us @meetcopper so we can continue to share them with our Copper Community.

Photo by Laura Kapfer on Unsplash