Our need for icons begins in early childhood when we hold on to the favorite little piece of blanket, or the beloved stuffed animal. The blanket is not a blanket, nor is the animal a mere animal; they are icons of all-rightness in a world that early shows itself to be not all right. They are icons of tender love in a society that daily becomes more brutal and violent.
— Madeleine L'Engle, Penguins and Golden Calves