Hans Christian Andersen (1952)

Danny Kaye: Hans Christian Andersen

Photos 

Quotes 

• Hans : Did you ever hear the story of the old woman who shook her head at the family so much that one night it fell off? Right on the dinner table.

• Hans : You know I like to think that shoes have a mind of their own. The ones that squeak don't want to leave the shop, and the ones that don't fit don't like the person that's wearing them.

• Hans : You know, I never saw such a worrier as you, Peter. You want to worry? I'll give you something to worry about. Two years ago I took you out of that orphanage and promised them I'd make you into a good cobbler. Two whole years! Look at that shoe. Glue's all smeared, the nails go in crooked. Two years an apprentice and still the nails go in crooked.

  Peter : I'm not as bad as all that, am I? You're not going to send me back, are you?

  Hans : Ah! A new worry appears in the sky.

• Hans : That's the nice thing about the world, my friend: People.

• Hans : No one's ever really alone.

• Hans : You'd be surprised how many kings are only a queen with a mustache.

• [working on a beautiful ballerina's shoes] 

  Hans : I almost wish she'd asked me for something really impossible.

• Hans : [having just learned that Doro is married to Niels, who has just slapped her after an argument]  How could you do it? How could a girl like you marry a man like that? How can I help you?

• Schoolmaster : Look, Burgomaster, look. The books on the dirty ground.

  [Picks up a book] 

  Schoolmaster : Here, "The History of Denmark", used to tie the string of a dirty kite.

  Hans Christian Andersen : The history of any country can always use a little fresh air, Schoolmaster. Did you ever hear the story of the history book that took a vacation, and came back a much better history?