Quotes from Hans Christian Andersen

he had made a mirror with the power of causing all that was good and beautiful when it was reflected therein, to look poor and mean; but that which was good-for-nothing and looked ugly was shown magnified and increased in ugliness. In

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.

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!

At his next visit he fancied he must have got into a narrow needlecase, full of sharp needles: "Oh," thought he, "this must be the heart of an old maid;" but such was not the fact;

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.

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.

Crois-tu que la flamme de l'âme puisse périr dans les flammes du bucher?

Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. "Someone is dying," thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.

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.

But he hasn't got anything on, a little child said.

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.

Il mare appariva come una volta eterea, come un cielo solido e senza stelle sotto di noi, e nell'aria trasparente si perdeva nell'immensità; nessuna striscia, scura o luminosa, limitava l'orizzonte; c'era una chiarità, una vastità infinita, che non si può dipingere né descrivere, se non nella profondità eterna del pensiero.

This was the last evening that she should breathe the same air with him or gaze on the starry sky and the deep sea. An eternal night, without a thought or a dream, awaited her.

Yet still they flew on and on, higher and higher, till at last the mirror trembled so fearfully that it slipped from their hands and fell to the earth, shivered into hundreds of millions and billions of bits. And then it did more harm than ever. Some of these bits were not as big as a grain of sand and these flew about, all over the world, getting into people's eyes. And once in, they stuck there and distorted everything they looked at or made them see everything that was amiss.

only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more.

The sea is softer than your delicate hands, and yet it can alter the shape of hard stones.

better than the others. I think he will grow up pretty

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

lovely summer weather in the country, and the golden corn, the green

A well-bred duckling spreads his feet wide apart, just like his father and mother, in this way. Now bend your neck, and say 'quack.' The

Bien des gens reçurent de cette funeste poussière dans l'Å"il. Une fois là, elle y restait, et les gens voyaient tout en mal, tout en laid, et tout à l'envers.

I can give her no greater power than she has already, the woman said; don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her and how well she has got through the world, barefoot as she is.

I can give her no greater power than she has already... don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her and how well she has got through the world, barefoot as she is. She cannot receive from me any power greater than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of heart.

Das ist eine schöne Blume!" sagte die Frau und küßte sie auf die herrlichen roten und gelben Blätter, aber wie sie sie noch küßte, that die Blume einen großen Knall und öffnete sich. Es war, wie man nun sehen konnte, eine wirkliche Tulpe; aber mitten in der Blüte, auf dem grünen Blumengriffel, saß ein winzig kleines, blondlockiges Mädchen, fein und lieblich. Sie war nicht größer als ein Daumen, und deswegen wurde