Hans Christian Andersen Quotes

Now, if we only had as many casks of butter as there are people here, then I would eat lots of butter! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

You have become my thinking's single thought, My heart's first love: it had no love before. I love you as no love on earth is wrought, I love you now and love you evermore. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Flew out and bit him in the neck. "Let him alone," said the mother, "he is not doing any harm." "Yes, but he ~ Hans Christian Andersen

they made themselves comfortable. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

To be born in a duck's nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan's egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the newcomer and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Well, it's not so easy to give an answer when you ask a stupid question! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Brave soldier, never fear. Even though your death is near. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

The sun shines upon good and bad alike. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Yes, it always pays when the wife believes and admits that her husband is the wisest man in the world and that whatever he does is right. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I think I will sit on it a little while longer," said the duck, "as I have sat so long already, a few days will be nothing." "Please yourself," said the old duck, and she went away. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Delayed is not forgotten! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around him; ~ Hans Christian Andersen

She thought, He whom I love more than my father or mother, he of whom I am always thinking, and in whose hands I would so willingly trust my lifelong happiness. I dare do anything to win him and to gain an immortal soul. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

If you looked down to the bottom of my soul, you would understand fully the source of my longing and – pity me. Even the open, transparent lake has its unknown depths, which no divers know. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

It is only with the heart that one can see clearly, for the most essential things are invisible to the eye. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Her tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but she cared not for it; a sharper pang had pierced through her heart. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Sharp knives seemed to cut her delicate feet, yet she hardly felt them, so deep was the pain in her heart. She could not forget that this was the last night she would ever see the one for whom she had left her home and family, had given up her beautiful voice, and had day by day endured unending torment, of which he knew nothing at all. An eternal night awaited her. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I covet honour in the same way as a miser covets gold. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

But if the star should set, even while I am penning these lines, be it so; still I can say it has shone, and I have received a rich portion. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I liked Hans Christian Andersen because the tales were so dark and tragic. ~ Aimee Bender

[ ... ] and the pea was put in the museum, where it can still be seen, if no one has stolen it. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

There was once a merchant who was so rich that he might have paved the whole street, and a little alley besides, with silver money. But he didn't do it
he knew better how to use his money than that. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Fairy tales are about trouble, about getting into and out of it, and trouble seems to be a necessary stage on the route to becoming. All the magic and glass mountains and pearls the size of houses and princesses beautiful as the day and talking birds and part-time serpents are distractions from the core of most of the stories, the struggle to survive against adversaries, to find your place in the world, and to come into your own.

Fairy tales are almost always the stories of the powerless, of youngest sons, abandoned children, orphans, of humans transformed into birds and beasts or otherwise enchanted away from their own lives and selves. Even princesses are chattels to be disowned by fathers, punished by step-mothers, or claimed by princes, though they often assert themselves in between and are rarely as passive as the cartoon versions. Fairy tales are children's stories not in wh they were made for but in their focus on the early stages of life, when others have power over you and you have power over no one.

In them, power is rarely the right tool for survival anyway. Rather the powerless thrive on alliances, often in the form of reciprocated acts of kindness -- from beehives that were not raided, birds that were not killed but set free or fed, old women who were saluted with respect. Kindness sewn among the meek is harvested in crisis...

In Hans Christian Andersen's retelling of the old Nordic tale that begins with a stepmother, "The Wild Sw ~ Rebecca Solnit

Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with short steps. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Death walks faster than the wind and never returns what he has taken. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I was brought up, as a lot of kids are, on 'Aesop's Fables,' 'Brothers Grimm,' 'La Fontaine,' all those sorts of things. Hans Christian Andersen is a hero of mine. ~ Michael Morpurgo

The angel plucks a large handful of flowers, and they carry it with them up to God, where the flowers bloom more brightly than they ever did on earth. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Never had she danced so beautifully; the sharp knives cut her feet, but she did not feel it, for the pain in her heart was far greater. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Where are your sons?" asked the prince.
"Well, it's not so easy to give an answer when you ask a stupid question!" said the woman. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Mermaids have no tears, and so they suffer all the more. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

The good and the beautiful is not forgotten; it lives in legend and in song. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

They could see she was a real Princess and no question about it, now that she had felt one pea all the way through twenty mattresses and twenty more feather beds. Nobody but a Princess could be so delicate. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I know what you want. It is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty princess. - The sea witch. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Then little Gerda said the Lord's Prayer; the cold was so intense that she could see her own breath; it came out of her mouth like smoke. Her breath became thicker and thicker, and took the form of little angels who grew larger and larger as soon as they touched the ground. All had helmets on their heads, and lances and shields in their hands; their numbers increased, and when Gerda had finished her prayer a whole legion stood around her. They trust their lances against the horrible snow-flakes, so that the latter flew into a hundred pieces; and little Gerda went forward safely and cheerfully. The angels stroked her hands and feet, so that she felt the cold less, and she hastened on to the Snow Queen's castle. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

How large the world is, ~ Hans Christian Andersen

The stork walking about on his long red legs chattered in the Egyptian language, which he had learnt from his mother. The corn-fields and meadows were surrounded by large forests, in the midst of which were deep pools. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

The right sort (of story) come of themselves: they tap at my forehead and say 'Here we are. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Every author has some peculiarity in his descriptions or in his style of writing. Those who do not like him, magnify it, shrug up their shoulders, and exclaim __ there he is again! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Happy domestic life is like a beautiful summer's evening; the heart is filled with peace; and everything around derives a peculiar glory. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

That is impossible, ~ Hans Christian Andersen

But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Language, which he had learnt from his mother. The corn-fields and meadows were surrounded by large forests, in the midst ~ Hans Christian Andersen

We cannot expect to be happy always ... by experiencing evil as well as good we become wise. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Then your tail will divide and shrink until it becomes what the people on earth call a pair of shapely legs. But it will hurt; it will feel as if a sharp sword slashed through you. Everyone who sees you will say that you are the most graceful human being they have ever laid eyes on, for you will keep your gliding movement and no dancer will be able to tread as lightly as you. But every step you take will feel as if you were treading upon knife blades so sharp that blood must flow. I am willing to help you, but are you willing to suffer all this?"
"Yes," the little mermaid said in a trembling voice, as she thought of the Prince and of gaining a human soul. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

My life will be the best illustration of all my work. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

It is out of reality that the most peculiar tale of all is born ... Some call me the Elder Granny, others - the Dryad, but my real name is Memory. It is I who sits on a tree that keeps on growing, and growing, it is I who reminisces and tells stories. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

cry so strange that it frightened him. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

But shouldn't all of us on earth give the best we have to others and offer whatever is in our power? ~ Hans Christian Andersen

What ticks in the clock, beats here with strong strokes of the hammer. It is Bloodless, who drank life from human thought and thereby got limbs of metals, stone and wood; it is Bloodless, who by human thought gained strength, which man himself does not physically possess. Bloodless reigns in Motala, and through the large foundries and factories he extends his hard limbs, whose joints and parts consist of wheel within wheel, chains, bars, and thick iron wires. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Far away, where the swallows take refuge in winter, lived a king who had eleven sons and one daughter, Elise. The eleven brothers
they were all princes
used to go to school with stars on their breasts and swords at their sides. They wrote upon golden slates with diamond pencils, and could read just as well without a book as with one, so there was no mistake about their being princes. Their sister Elise sat upon a little footstool of looking-glass, and she has a picture-book which had cost the half of a kingdom. Oh, these children were very happy; but it was not to last thus forever. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Autumn came, and the leaves in the forest turned to orange and gold. Then, as winter approached, the wind caught them as they fell ~ Hans Christian Andersen

No one would allow that he could not see these much-admired clothes; because, in doing so, he would have declared himself either a simpleton or unfit of his office. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

She was so young that love was still a game to her. . . . She was being neither fair nor clever, but Babette was only nineteen years old. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen said 'Every man's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers.' Maybe he was right, maybe not. Either way, just remember: enchanting as they may be, in fairytales the forests are always dark. ~ Greg F. Gifune

His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a duck's nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan's egg. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Each soldier was the living image of the others, but there was one who was a bit different. He had only one leg, for he was the last to be cast and the tin had run out. Still, there he stood, just as steadfast on his one leg as the others on their two; and he is the tin soldier we are going to hear about. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

To travel is to live. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

in a single instant, can the consciousness of the sin that has been committed in thoughts, words, and actions of our past life, be unfolded to us. When once the conscience is awakened, it springs up in the heart spontaneously, and God awakens the conscience when we least expect it. Then we can find no excuse for ourselves; the deed is there and bears witness against us. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. - Hans Christian Andersen ~ Robyn Carr

Travelling expands the mind rarely. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I got interested in reading very early, because a story was read to me, by Hans Christian Andersen, which was The Little Mermaid, and I don't know if you remember The Little Mermaid, but it's dreadfully sad. The little mermaid falls in love with this prince, but she cannot marry him, because she is a mermaid. And it's so sad I can't tell you the details because I might weep. But anyway, as soon as I had finished this story I got outside and walked around and around the house where we lived, at the brick house, and I made up a story with a happy ending, because I thought that was due to the little mermaid, and it sort of slipped my mind that it was only made up to be a different story for me, it wasn't going to go all around the world, but I felt I had done my best, and from now on the little mermaid would marry the prince and live happily ever after, which was certainly her dessert, because she had done awful things to win the prince's power, his ease. She had had to change her limbs. She had had to get limbs that ordinary people have and walk, but every step she took, agonizing pain! This is what she was willing to go through, to get the prince. So I thought she deserved more than death on the water. And I didn't worry about the fact that maybe the rest of the world wouldn't know the new story, because I felt it had been published once I thought about it. ~ Alice Munro

They told tales as they sat at their work, and every one related what wonderful things he had seen or experienced. One afternoon I heard an old man among them say that God knew every thing, both what had happened and what would happen. That idea occupied my whole mind, and towards evening, as I went alone from the court, where there was a deep pond, and stood upon some stones which were just within the water, the thought passed through my head, whether God actually knew everything which was to happen there. Yes, he has now determined that I should live and be so many years old, thought I; but, if I now were to jump into the water here and drown myself, then it would not be as he wished; and all at once I was firmly and resolutely determined to drown myself. I ran to where the water was deepest, and then a new thought passed through my soul. "It is the devil who wishes to have power over me!" I uttered a loud cry, and, running away from the place as if I were pursued, fell weeping into my mother's arms. But neither she nor any one else could wring from me what was amiss with me. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

No death is sweeter than this, and no rose redder than the blood that flows. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Don't ask me how I am! I understand nothing more! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Nothing is too high for a man to reach, but he must climb with care and confidence ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Then he would cry, but what nobody knows nobody cares for; so he would cry till he was tired, and then fall asleep; and while we are asleep we can feel neither hunger nor thirst. Ah, yes; sleep is a capital invention. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

And Kay and Gerda looked in each other's eyes, and all at once they understood the old hymn: "The rose in the valley is blooming so sweet, And angels descend there the children to greet." There sat the two grown-up persons; grown-up, and yet children; children at least in heart; and it was summer-time; summer, glorious summer! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Eighty percent of our criminals come from unsympathetic homes. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

It doesn't matter if you're born in a duck yard, so long as you are hatched from a swan's egg! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I guess I am running the risk of becoming the Hans Christian Andersen of opera. ~ Gian Carlo Menotti

At first she was overjoyed that he would be with her, but then she recalled that human people could not live under the water, and he could only visit her father's palace as a dead man. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

But he hasn't got anything on! the whole town cried out at last. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Suddenly an ice-cold wind went through the vast hall, and the blind mother could feel that Death had arrived.
'How have you been able to find your way here?' he asked, 'how have you been able to get here faster than I have?'
'I'm a mother, she said. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

But these are small troubles, people will say. Yes, but they are drops which wear hollows in the rock. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

push it myself." On the next day the weather was delightful, and the sun shone brightly on the green burdock ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Our princess moaned and wept. Her tears fell on the elder-stump, and it was quite moved, for it was the Marsh King himself, who lives in the quagmire. I saw the stump turn itself, so it wasn't only a trunk, for it put out long, muddy boughs like arms. Then the unhappy girl was frightened, ans sprang aside into the quivering marsh, which will not bear me, much less her. In at once she sank, and down with her went the elder-stump - it was he who pulled her down. Then a few big black bubbles, and no trace of her left. She is engulfed in the marsh, and will never return to Egypt with her flower… ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Every town, like every man, has its own countenance; they have a common likeness and yet are different; one keeps in his mind all their peculiar touches. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

In the middle of a garden grew a rose tree; it was full of roses, and in the loveliest of them all lived an elf. He was so tiny that no human eye could see him. He had a snug little room behind every petal of the rose. He was as well made and as perfect as any human child, and he had wings reaching from his shoulders to his feet. Oh, what a delicious scent there was in his room, and how lovely and transparent the walls were, for they were palest pink, rose petals. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Yes, it is wonderful to be alive! Indeed, the Bottle inwardly sang of all this, as do young poets, who frequently also know nothing about the things of which they sing. From The Bottle Neck ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I only do His will, replied Death. I am his gardener. I take all His flowers and trees, and transplant them into the gardens of Paradise in an unknown land. How they flourish there, and what that garden resembles, I may not tell you. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Almighty God, thee only have I; thou steerest my fate, I must give myself up to thee! Give me a livelihood! Give me a bride! My blood wants love, as my heart does! ~ Hans Christian Andersen

You're a fine one for tramping around," the bandit girl said to Kai. "I'd like to know – do you really deserve to have someone run to the end of the world just for your sake? ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Early in the morning, a peasant, who was passing by, saw what had happened. He broke the ice in pieces with his wooden shoe, and carried the duckling home to his wife. The warmth revived the poor ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Everyone knew the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale about the Sandman and how he brought sweet dreams to sleepers. An early, now-defunct Reve company had even used him as their mascot. But that's all the Sandman had been - a mascot. A little grinning elf holding an hourglass. ~ Erin Kellison

therefore, when she ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I have gone through the most terrible affair that could possibly happen; only imagine, my shadow has gone mad; I suppose such a poor, shallow brain, could not bear much; he fancies that he has become a real man, and that I am his shadow. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

It is the power of thought that gives man power over nature. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

It was clear to me, as I glanced back over my earlier life, that a loving Providence watched over me, that all was directed for me by a higher power. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

You are a dreamer, and that is your misfortune. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

I have shed pewter tears! It is too melancholy! Rather let me go to the wars and lose arms and legs! It would at least be a change. I cannot bear it longer! Now, I know what it is to have a visit from one's old thoughts, with what they may bring with them! I have had a visit from mine, and you may be sure it is no pleasant thing in the end; I was at last about to jump down from the drawers. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Well, yes: people write poems when they are in love, but a wise man will not print them. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

They sat close to each other, and he told her a story about her eyes. They were beautiful dark lakes in which her thoughts swam about like mermaids. And her forehead was a snowy mountain, grand and shining. These were lovely stories. ~ Hans Christian Andersen

Imagine an American Hans Christian Andersen, conceive of the Brothers Grimm living in Missouri, and you will approximate Howard Schwartz, a fable-maker and fable-gatherer seduced by the uncanny and the unearthly. In Lilith's Cave, he once again reaches into a magical cornucopia of folklore and fantasy and spreads before us, in enchanting language, the marvels and shocks of dybbuks, ghosts, demons, spirits, and wizards. ~ Cynthia Ozick