Here are the 27 best handpicked quotes from “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Andersen:
From “She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart.” to “But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.”
So if you want the best quotes from “The Little Mermaid,” then you’re in the right place.
Let’s dive in!
My Favorite “The Little Mermaid” Quote
#1
“She laughed and danced with the thought of death in her heart.”
— The Little Mermaid
I really liked this quote because it somehow speaks about life in general.
It just got me reflecting that, indeed, in life, we share laughter and dance through its ups and downs, even though we know in our hearts that one day, all these will be taken from us because of death.
However, even with the thought of death, we beat on against the current; we continue to ride the waves of life and dive into its depths with all our hearts, in hopes of making our existence worth the while.
Best Handpicked Quotes From “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Andersen
#2
“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!”
— The Little Mermaid
#3
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#4
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#5
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#6
“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 Little Mermaid
#7
“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 Little Mermaid
#8
“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. ”
— The Little Mermaid
#9
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#10
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#11
“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 Little Mermaid
#12
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#13
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#14
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#15
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#16
“But they hurt me so,” said the little mermaid.
“Pride must suffer pain,” replied the old lady.”
— The Little Mermaid
#17
“Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees.”
— The Little Mermaid
#18
“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.”
— The Little Mermaid
#19
“‘But if you take my voice,’ said the little mermaid, ‘what will I have left?’ ‘Your beautiful body,’ said the witch. ‘Your graceful walk and your lovely eyes. Speak with them and you will be able to capture a human heart.’”
— The Little Mermaid
#20
“Day by day the prince grew fonder and fonder of her; but he loved her as he would have loved a good child, and had no thought of making her his queen.”
— The Little Mermaid
#21
“The mer-king had been a widower for many years; his mother kept house for him. She was a very intelligent woman but a little too proud of her rank: she wore twelve oysters on her tail; the nobility were only allowed six.”
— The Little Mermaid
#22
“If a man should fall so much in love with you that you were dearer to him than his mother and father… and he let a priest take his right hand and put it in yours, while he promised to be eternally true to you, then his soul would flow into your body and you would be able to partake of human happiness. He can give you a soul and yet keep his own.”
— The Little Mermaid
#23
“Why do I not have an immortal soul! I would give all my three hundred years of life for only one day as a human being if, afterward, I should be allowed to live in the heavenly world.”
— The Little Mermaid
#24
“Now that she knew where the prince lived, the little mermaid spent many evenings and nights looking at the splendid palace. She swam nearer to the land than any of her sisters had dared. There was a marble balcony that cast its shadow across a narrow canal, and beneath it, she hid and watched the young prince.”
— The Little Mermaid
#25
“We can live until we are three hundred years old; but when we die, we become the foam on the ocean. We cannot even bury our loved ones. We do not have immortal souls. When we die, we shall never rise again… But men have souls that live eternally, even after their bodies have become dust.”
— The Little Mermaid
#26
“The first time that any of the sisters had been allowed to swim to the surface, each had been delighted with her freedom and all she had seen. But now that they were grownups and could swim anywhere they wished, they lost interest in wandering away.”
— The Little Mermaid
#27
“But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.”
— The Little Mermaid