Fairy tales are more than true–not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.

The line argues that the value of fantasy is not escapist “belief” in monsters, but emotional and moral instruction. “Dragons” stand for real fears—trauma, injustice, illness, oppression, or personal failure. Fairy tales are “more than true” because they encode a practical hope: threats can be named, faced, and overcome, and courage is imaginable even for the small or powerless. The quote also defends children’s literature as serious art: stories shape resilience by rehearsing danger in symbolic form and offering models of agency. In that sense, fantasy can be truer than realism, because it speaks directly to inner experience and the possibility of victory.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
“Fairy tales are more than true—not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.”