Quotes · Quote card

Quotation from Fairy Tales (Selection) by Hans Christian Andersen

“We can live to be three hundred years old, but when we cease to exist here, we are turned into foam on the surface of the water”

Hans Christian Andersen (spoken by The old grandmother)

Fairy Tales (Selection), The Little Sea Maid, trans. W. A. Craigie

Portrait of Hans Christian Andersen

The sea maid's grandmother explains to her the difference between the long lives of the sea people and the immortal souls of human beings.

Citation: "We can live to be three hundred years old, but when we cease to exist here, we are turned into foam on the surface of the water" — Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales (Selection), The Little Sea Maid, trans. W. A. Craigie. (id andersen-fairy-tales-q2)

Portrait: Hans Christian Andersen by Thora Hallager 1869, Thora Hallager, Public domain.

Download card (PNG)

Quote card: We can live to be three hundred years old, but when we cease to exist here, we a