Make no mistake, innocence is important, whatever the cynics might tell tou. Anyone who whispers, It is time to put away childish things should not be trusted. Grown-up things are better? Please! They only say that to make themselves feel good about losing all that they valued when they were younger. In particular, a way of seeing the world unmarred by the petty failures and miseries of adulthood and all the bitterness and mistrust that engenders.
I always aimed to spend my whole life trying to keep my childhood with me; not the toys and the games, but the ability to see the wonder at the heart of the mundane. And I did try, but it’s been a long, hard fight, believe me. When you start out it’s impossible to guess the sheer enormity of the forces lined up against that mission. Those who have failed don’t want you to succeed because it makes their failure more acute to see what they’re missing. (Mark Chadbourne, The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, 2002)