Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.

J.M. Barrie was a prolific novelist and playwright, best known for creating the iconic character of Peter Pan. Pan first appeared in Barrie’s 1902 novel “The Little White Bird,” wherein Barrie posed the question, “Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?” The original Peter, however, was very different from the free-spirited, cocksure, and eternally young boy we know and love today. Originally, Peter was a 7-day-old flying baby — and therefore quite incapable of sword fighting with hook-handed pirates. Barrie later made Pan the central character in his stage play “Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up,” which premiered in 1904. The play was a success and was later adapted into the 1911 novel “Peter and Wendy,” in which Barrie further expanded on Peter’s adventures in Neverland with its mermaids, fairies, and pirates.