Quote by Hans Christian Andersen: “Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan's egg.”

Where you come from does not define what you are. Andersen — who came from poverty and felt like an outsider his whole life — embedded his autobiography in this tale. Your origins and surroundings are not your destiny; what matters is your true nature.

The Ugly Duckling was first published in 1843 in Denmark, a country undergoing rapid social change as industrialisation began to disrupt traditional class structures. Andersen, the son of a labourer who had risen to literary fame through talent alone, gave this tale a personal urgency.

Danish author and poet whose fairy tales, including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Ugly Duckling, have been translated into more languages than any other work except the Bible. He also wrote novels, plays, and travel narratives, but is remembered above all for transforming the fairy tale into literary art.