diff --git a/htbuilder/__init__.py b/htbuilder/__init__.py
index dd50be8..07bd93f 100644
--- a/htbuilder/__init__.py
+++ b/htbuilder/__init__.py
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import Any, Iterable
+from typing import Any, Iterable, Literal
+from html import escape as _escape
 
 from .funcs import func
 from .units import unit
@@ -82,6 +83,39 @@
 )
 
 
+def escape(s: str, quote: bool | Literal["'", '"'] = True):
+    """
+    Version of html.escape that allows to escape only one kind of quote.
+    """
+    result = _escape(s, quote=False)
+    if quote is True or quote == "'":
+        result = result.replace("'", "'")
+    if quote is True or quote == '"':
+        result = result.replace('"', """)
+    return result
+
+
+def quote(s: str) -> str:
+    """
+    Returns an 'intelligently' quoted version of s, i.e. one that
+    chooses outer quotes according to string content.
+
+    >>> print(quote("Kim's"))
+    "Kim's"
+    >>> print(quote('"Hello", he said'))
+    '"Hello", he said'
+    >>> print(quote("Kim\'s text is \"Hello\"."))
+    "Kim's text is "Hello"."
+    """
+    if '"' not in s:
+        return f'"{escape(s, quote=False)}"'
+    elif "'" not in s:
+        return f"'{escape(s, quote=False)}'"
+    else:
+        dblquote = '"'
+        return f'"{escape(s, quote=dblquote)}"'
+
+
 class HtmlElement:
     _MEMBERS = {
         "_cannot_have_attributes",
@@ -143,13 +177,20 @@ def __getitem__(self, *children: Any):
         return self(children)
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
-        children = "".join([str(c) for c in self._children])
+        children = "".join(
+            [
+                str(c) if isinstance(c, HtmlElement) else escape(str(c), quote=False)
+                for c in self._children
+            ]
+        )
 
         if self._tag is None:
             return children
 
         tag = _clean_name(self._tag)
-        attrs = " ".join([f'{_clean_name(k)}="{v}"' for k, v in self._attrs.items()])
+        attrs = " ".join(
+            [f"{_clean_name(k)}={quote(v)}" for k, v in self._attrs.items()]
+        )
 
         if self._cannot_have_children:
             if self._attrs:
diff --git a/tests/htbuild_test.py b/tests/htbuild_test.py
index eb5e273..854370c 100644
--- a/tests/htbuild_test.py
+++ b/tests/htbuild_test.py
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+from shlex import quote
 import unittest
 
 from htbuilder import (
     _my_custom_element,
     div,
+    escape,
     fragment,
     h1,
     img,
@@ -473,6 +475,34 @@ def test_repr_html(self):
             normalize_whitespace("<div>Exists!</div>"),
         )
 
+    def test_escape_all(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            escape('Kim\'s text is "Hello".', quote=True),
+            "Kim&apos;s text is &quot;Hello&quot;.",
+        )
+
+    def test_escape_apos(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            escape('Kim\'s text is "Hello".', quote="'"), 'Kim&apos;s text is "Hello".'
+        )
+
+    def test_escape_quot(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            escape('Kim\'s text is "Hello".', quote='"'),
+            "Kim's text is &quot;Hello&quot;.",
+        )
+
+    def test_complex_escaping(self):
+        dom = div(
+            "let ε < 0",
+            span('Hello "World"!', title="Kim's Frittenbude"),
+            title='He said: "Hello"',
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            str(dom),
+            """<div title='He said: "Hello"'>let ε &lt; 0<span title="Kim's Frittenbude">Hello "World"!</span></div>""",
+        )
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()