Quotations about the Tooth Fairy and Losing Teeth
The little girl looked up and smiled, the gentle dignity of her expression broken by an incongruous gap in her small white teeth. Shyly, she held out her chubby hand. In the palm was the tooth which had been missing from the smile. ~Lee Rogow, "The Tooth Fairy," in Collier's, 1949
"My tooth," said Cynthia. "This is the first one out. I'm three months ahead of the baby book... It wouldn't have come out for a while yet, but I pushed it back and forth until it did. I wanted to get the ten cents." ~Lee Rogow, "The Tooth Fairy," in Collier's, 1949
An aching tooth is better out than in... ~Richard Baxter
Money is much more exciting than anything it buys. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966,
[E]very tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond. ~Miguel de Cervantes
Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principal one was, that they escaped teething. ~Mark Twain
[She] followed, half awake and half asleep,
Until she came into the land of faery...
~William Butler Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire," 1894
The Tongue is ever turning to the aching Tooth. ~Proverb
Soft moss a downy pillow makes
And green leaves spread a tent,
Where Faerie folk may rest and sleep
Until their night is spent.
The bluebird sings a lullaby;
The firefly gives a light:
The twinkling stars are candles bright,
Sleep, Faeries all, Good Night.
~Elizabeth T. Dillingham, "A Faery Song"
The little Plumpuppets are fairies of beds:
They have nothing to do but watch sleepy heads;
They turn down the sheets and they tuck you in tight,
And they dance on your pillow to wish you good night!
~Christopher Morley, "The Plumpuppets," The Rocking Horse, 1919
Ye, who e'er lost a tooth — O tell the smart. ~Mr. Pratt, to Mr. Sigmond, a celebrated Dentist, at Bath, on drawing one of the Author's Teeth, The Monthly Magazine, 1803
Ye golden hours of Life's young spring,
Of innocence, of love and truth!
Bright, beyond all imagining,
Thou fairy-dream of youth!...
~Lewis Carroll, "Solitude," 1853
Other than a dimple in a cute little chin,
What's more adorable than a toothless grin?
~Terri Guillemets, "Meeting the family," 1996
But there was never child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837
There is also a distinct sense of elation in doing trifling practical things for children. They are so small and so helpless that they contribute vastly to a comforting glow in the ego of the
Parenthood has its brightness. For one thing you can renew your acquaintance with fairies, something you are supposed to have dropped but have discreetly hidden in a cherished corner. Now it can come out, especially at story-telling time, and enjoy seeing the child on your knee grow starry-eyed, touched by the magic and mystery of another world, where no fear, no hurt, and only a few choice grown-ups like father, may enter. ~Angelo Patri, 1924
Send your little child to bed happy. Whatever cares press, give it a warm good-night kiss as it goes to its pillow. The memory of this in the stormy years which fate may have in store for the little one will be like Bethlehem's star to the bewildered shepherds. — "My father — my mother loved me!" Fate cannot take away that blessed heart-balm. Lips parched with the world's fever will become dewy again at this thrill of youthful memories. Kiss your little child before it goes to sleep. ~Charles Bullock, 1861