Quotes from The Complete Fairy Tales

“Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“‎"Does all the beauty of the world stop when you die?"

"No," said the Old Oak; "it will last much longer - longer than I can even think of."

"Well, then," said the little May-fly, "we have the same time to live; only we reckon differently.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“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, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“The good and the beautiful is not forgotten; it lives in legend and in song.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“The right sort (of story) come of themselves: they tap at my forehead and say 'Here we are.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“[...] and the pea was put in the museum, where it can still be seen, if no one has stolen it.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at last.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“A short time ago"—the Star's "short time ago" is called among men "centuries ago"—"my rays followed a young artist. It was in the city of the Popes, in”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“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, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“looking old witch in the road. Her under-lip hung quite down on her breast, and she stopped and said, “Good”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people’s eyes, there they stayed; and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil. This happened because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“out-of-doors there was quite a snow-storm. “It is the white bees that are swarming,” said Kay’s old grandmother. “Do the white bees choose a queen?” asked the little boy; for he knew that the honey-bees always have one. “Yes,” said the grandmother, “she flies where the swarm hangs in the thickest clusters. She is the largest of all; and she can never remain quietly on the earth, but goes up again into the black clouds. Many a winter’s night she flies through the streets of the town, and peeps in at the windows; and they then freeze in so wondrous a manner that they look like flowers.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“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, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“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, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“child, looking through bubbles into the future; now those bright bubbles were all behind him. Once more he had”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“came to anything, very remarkable; and there they are for you." So saying, he gave Joanna the gingerbread man, who was still quite whole—and to Knud the broken maiden; but the children had been so much impressed by the story, that they had not the heart to eat the”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more.”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

“and from that day, even till now, all the storks have been called Peter. The”
― Hans Christian Andersen, quote from The Complete Fairy Tales

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“I told myself that I didn't need any of that shit, but there it was, repeated to me day after day after day. And when you're surrounded by a bunch of mostly strangers experiencing the same thing, unable to call home, tethered to routine on ranchland miles away from anybody who might have known you before, might have been able to recognize the real you if you told them you couldn't remember who she was, it's not really like being real at all. It's plastic living. It's living in a diorama. It's living the life of one of those prehistoric insects encased in amber: suspended, frozen, dead but not, you don't know for sure.”
― Emily M. Danforth, quote from The Miseducation of Cameron Post

“And it was then I began to realize for the first time that there are two distinct sides to a writer of fiction. First, there is the side he displays to the public, that of an ordinary person like anyone else, a person who does ordinary things and speaks an ordinary language. Second, there is the secret side which comes out in him only after he has closed the door of his workroom and is completely alone. It is then that he slips into another world altogether, a world where his imagination takes over and he finds himself actually living in the places he is writing about at that moment. I myself, if you want to know, fall into a kind of trance and everything around me disappears. I see only the point of my pencil moving over the paper, and quite often two hours go by as though they were a couple of seconds.”
― Roald Dahl, quote from The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More

“الجميع يندمون فيما بعد على رسائل الحب التي كتبوه”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook

“Limiting one’s desires actually helps to cure one of fear. ‘Cease to hope … and you will cease to fear.’ … Widely different [as fear and hope] are, the two of them march in unison like a prisoner and the escort he is handcuffed to. Fear keeps pace with hope … both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves to the present.”
― Seneca, quote from Letters from a Stoic (a selection)

“Of inference, all are capable; of judgment, only a few.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, quote from The Portable Nietzsche

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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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