"All children, except one, grow up" – is the opening line of :

Question

Accepted Answer

The opening line, "All children, except one, grow up," is indeed the opening line of J.M. Barrie's *Peter Pan*. This statement immediately establishes the central theme of the story: the exception to the universal rule of growing up. Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, is the embodiment of this exception, and the entire narrative revolves around his adventures in Neverland, a place where children can remain children forever. The line directly introduces the reader to the core concept of the play/novel and sets the stage for Peter's unique existence.

Now, let's examine why the other options are incorrect:

1.  **Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott:** *Little Women* is a coming-of-age story about the March sisters. While it deals with themes of childhood and growing up, its opening line is not "All children, except one, grow up." The novel begins with the sisters discussing their financial situation and their desire for Christmas gifts.

2.  **Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy:** *Anna Karenina* is a novel about adultery and societal hypocrisy in 19th-century Russia. Its famous opening line is "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This line has absolutely nothing to do with children or the concept of growing up in the way that the *Peter Pan* line does.

3.  **David Copperfield by Charles Dickens:** *David Copperfield* is a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story, but it begins with the narrator, David Copperfield himself, reflecting on his birth. The opening lines are "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." This is a far cry from the statement about all children growing up except one.