|
|
| fabdisbabe |
Originally published in The New York Sun in 1897.
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below,
expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is
numbered among the friends of The Sun:
Dear Editor—
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa
says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is
there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the
skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think
that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All
minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this
great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as
compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence
capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and
generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your
life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there
were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There
would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this
existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external
light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might
get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to
catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what
would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no
Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children
nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not,
but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine
all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but
there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even
the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart.
Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and
picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in
all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from
now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make
glad the heart of childhood.
|
|
|
| Coastalwader |
I haven't read that in YEARS!
Fab, thanks for posting it. :)
|
|
|
| Ajax |
Thanks Fab. Has anyone seen the Wal-Mart commercial in which they tell of the plan they have that allows disadvantaged kids to buy presents for their parents? That kid at the end that says 'There is a Santa Claus' gets me every time. |
|
|
| Crank |
quote:
Ajax wrote:
Thanks Fab. Has anyone seen the Wal-Mart commercial in which they tell of the plan they have that allows disadvantaged kids to buy presents for their parents? That kid at the end that says 'There is a Santa Claus' gets me every time.
My yearly ritual is watching "White Christmas". As many times as I can...
AND avoiding the one where "bumbles bounce..." |
|