Hans Christian Andersen Quotes
Best 17 The Little Mermaid Quotes by Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid Quotes
“A mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.”
“A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny.”
“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.”
“Each of the sisters took delight in the lovely new sights when she first rose up to the surface of the sea.
But when they became grown-up girls, who were allowed to go wherever they liked, they became indifferent to it.”
“Her grandmother had to call the little birds 'fish', or the princess would not have known what she was talking about, for she had never seen a bird.”
“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.”
“It was the last night that she would breathe the same air as he, or look out over the deep sea and up into the star-blue heaven.
A dreamless, eternal night awaited her, for she had no soul and had not been able to win one.”
“Mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more.”
“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.”
“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. ”
“She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart.”
“The little mermaid kissed his hand and felt that her heart was beginning to break. For the morning after his wedding day would see her dead and turned to watery foam.”
“The mermaid kissed his high and shapely forehead. As she stroked his wet hair in place, it seemed to her that he looked like that marble statue in her little garden.
She kissed him again and hoped that he would live.”
“The very thing that is your greatest beauty here in the sea - your fish tail - would be considered ugly on land.
They have such poor taste that to be thought beautiful there you have to have two awkward props which they call legs.”
“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.”
“We are like the green seaweed - once cut down, it never grows again.
Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, long after their bodies have turned to clay.”
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“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”
“We have no immortal souls; we have no future life; we are just like the green sea-weed, which, once cut down, can never revive again!
Men, on the other hand, have a soul which lives for ever, lives after the body has become dust; it rises through the clear air, up to the shining stars!”
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Hans Christian Andersen Sources
- All quotes by Hans Christian Andersen (60 quotes)
- The Complete Fairy Tales (5 quotes)
- The Fairy Tale of My Life (3 quotes)
- The Little Mermaid (17 quotes)
- The Princess and the Pea (1 quote)
- The Snow Queen (4 quotes)
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier (2 quotes)
- The Story of a Mother (1 quote)
- The Ugly Duckling (6 quotes)
- There is a Difference (1 quote)
- Other quotes by Hans Christian Andersen (20 quotes)