1897年，一名叫 Virginia O'Hanlon的小孩就心中的這一疑問給紐約太陽報寫了一封信對于這樣一封信，太陽報的編輯Francis P. Church進(jìn)行了誠懇的回復(fù)從此，每當(dāng)圣誕節(jié)來臨之際，太陽報上總要刊登這個小孩Virginia O'Hanlon的來信及當(dāng)時編輯Francis P. Church的回復(fù)記者先生：我8歲我的朋友里邊，有的小孩說“圣誕老人是沒有的”

我問爸爸，爸爸說，“去問《太陽報》看，報社說有，那就真的有了。

”因此，拜托了，請告訴我，圣誕老人真的有嗎?帕吉尼婭，歐漢勞恩紐約市西95街115號帕吉尼婭，讓我們來回答你的問題你的朋友說沒有圣誕老人，那是錯的在那個孩子的心中，肯定是染上了現(xiàn)時流行的什么都懷疑的習(xí)性什么都懷疑的人，只相信眼睛看得見的東西什么都懷疑的人，是心地狹窄的人因為心地狹窄，不懂的東西就很多雖然那樣，還斷定自己不懂的事情都是謊話不過，人的心這個東西，大人也好，小孩也好，本來是非常小的啊在我們居住的這個無限廣闊的宇宙里，我們?nèi)说闹腔?，就像一條小蟲那樣，是的，就像螞蟻一樣小

要想推測廣闊的，深奧的世界，就需要能夠理解所有事物、了解所有事物巨大的、深邃的智慧。

是的，帕吉尼婭，圣誕老人是有的，這絕不是謊話在這個世界上，如同有愛、有同情心、有誠實一樣，圣誕老人也確確實實是有的你大概也懂得吧，正是充滿這個世界的愛、誠實，才使你的生活變得美好了，快樂了假如沒有圣誕老人，這個世界該是多么黑暗，多么寂寞!就像沒有你這樣可愛的孩子，世界不可想象一樣，沒有圣誕老人的世界，也是不可想象的沒有圣誕老人來減輕我們痛苦的孩子般的信賴、詩、愛情故事，也許全都沒有了我們?nèi)祟惸荏w味得到的喜悅，大概只剩下眼睛能看到的、手能摸到的、身體能感覺到的東西了并且，兒童時代充滿世界的光明，說不定也會全都消失了怎么說沒有圣誕老人呢?不相信有圣誕老人，和不相信有妖精是一樣的試試看，誕圣節(jié)前夜，讓爸爸給你雇一個偵探，讓他監(jiān)視一下全紐約的煙囪怎么樣?也許能抓住圣誕老人噢！但是，即使看不到從煙囪里出來的圣誕老人的身影，那能證明什么呢?沒有人看見圣誕老人可是，那不能證明沒有圣誕老人因為，這個世界上最真實的東西，是孩子的眼睛、大人的眼睛都看不見的東西帕吉尼婭，你看到過妖精在草地上跳舞嗎?肯定沒有吧雖然如此，也不能說妖精是胡編的瞎話這個世界上某些看不見的東西，不能看到的東西，絕不是人們在頭腦中創(chuàng)造出來的，想象出來的我們能分解嬰兒的嘩啷棒，看它的聲音是怎樣出來的，里面是怎樣組裝的；但是，眼睛看不見那遮蓋著世界的大幕，不管有多大力氣的人，不，即使全世界的大力士一起上，也是拉不開的只有信賴、想象力、詩、愛、愛情，才能在某一個時刻，把它拉開，看到大幕后面的、無法形容的、美好的、閃閃發(fā)光的東西

那樣美好、閃光的東西，難道是人們編造的瞎話嗎?不，帕吉尼婭，那么確實，那么永恒的東西，就存在于這個世界之上。

說沒有圣誕老人?哪兒的話!讓我們高興的是，圣誕老人的確存在不止如此，他大概永遠(yuǎn)不會死亡一千年以后，一百萬年以后，圣誕老人也會同現(xiàn)在一樣，讓孩子們的心高興起來”英文原文：Dear Editor:I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?Signed Virginia O'HanlonThe answer as published in the New York Sun was:Virginia, your little friends are wrong.They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.