Being Born In A Duck Yard

From "The Ugly Duckling" (Den grimme Ælling), published in November 1843. The line appears near the end, when the duckling recognizes himself as a swan. Andersen so valued the sentiment that he wrote it out in his own hand in autograph copies: "Det gjør ikke noget at være født i Andegaarden, naar man kun har ligget i et Svaneæg." Scholars have long read the tale as autobiographical — Andersen was born into poverty in Odense and spent his life proving that origins need not determine destiny.