L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum, better known by his pen name L. Frank Baum, was an American author chiefly known for his children's books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen novel sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a host of other works, and made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen. His works anticipated such century-later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers, wireless telephones, women in high risk, action-heavy occupations, and the ubiquity of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth15 May 1856
CountryUnited States of America
You see, in this country are a number of youths who do not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for them.
I can't give you a brain, but I can give you a diploma.
People would rather live in homes regardless of its grayness. There is no place like home.
How very wet this water is.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
I shall take the heart. For brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.
Everything in life is unusual until you become accustomed to it.
Some of my youthful readers are developing wonderful imaginations. This pleases me.When I was young I longed to write a great novel that should win me fame. Now that I am getting old my first book is written to amuse children. For aside from my evident inability to do anything "great," I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp which, when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.
Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine, and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that day dreams with your eyes wide open are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilization. A prominent educator tells me that fairy tales are of untold value in developing imagination in the young. I believe it.
Stunt dwarf or destroy the imagination of a child and you have taken away its chances of success in life. Imagination transforms the commonplace into the great and creates the new out of the old.
To please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.
I think you are wrong to want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have a heart.
Going so soon? I wouldn't hear of it. Why my little party's just beginning. ~ Wicked Witch of the West Wizard of Oz
Nobody gets in to see the wizard. Not nobody.