The Little Prince is my favourite book, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I read it many many times and each time I discover new things like every period in life brings something new. It is a story about a little boy who goes on a journey around the world and discovers new planets. It is an allegory of life, and it inspired me to write this post. I chose 15 quotes, and there are many more interesting you can discover reading the book.
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- “All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.”
Does it happen to you too? When my children do things, I don`t approve I try to remind myself that I was a child too. Sometimes we have to let them be just kids without interfering because I think we control our children too much. When I was a kid, we would go out, and nobody was looking for us until we came back home, and now we call our children on their cell phones to check where are they any time they go out.
- “What makes the desert beautiful,’ said the little prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a well…”
We always have to have hope. Overwhelmed with everyday life, we get confused and lost and forget to hope.
- “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
Friendship is something we have to nourish every day. Sure we love our friends, and they love us back, but we need to care about them and show that, just a quick call to ask “how are you today?”
- “People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said. “But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.”
This one is the sequel of the previous one. Friendship is love and responsibility.
- “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”
This one reminded me of one time when my daughter asked why children have to go to daycare. And I said because someone has to take care of children when parents are at work. And then she asked me who invented work, why anyone must work? And I was astonished by her question, then I asked her if it would be better if we didn`t have to work and be free to stay out in nature. And she said yes, we could be all day together, we could pick flowers.
- “Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”
In life, we have to deal with all kinds of people and situations, then we have to be strong and overcome difficulties to get some better things.
Yes, the stars always make me laugh
- “And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you…”
When you lose someone, it is difficult. Noone can replace another person, but time heals wounds. And after some time you realise that you remember the good things about that someone and they give you the joy that you had such a person in your life.
- “Grown-ups love figures… When you tell them you’ve made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? ” Instead they demand “How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? ” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.”
Is it true that we get like this as grown-ups? We just care about figures and forget the beauty of knowing someone, caring, feeling happy to spend time with them.
- “One day,” you said to me, “I saw the sunset forty-four times!” And a little later you added: You know– one loves the sunset, when one is so sad…” “Were you so sad, then?” I asked, “on the day of the forty-four sunsets?” But the little prince made no reply.”
We don`t always have to pronounce words to tell what we mean.
- “It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.
This one explains itself. It just matters if we grew this big and can see ourselves rightly.
- “What matters most are the simple pleasures so abundant that we can all enjoy them…Happiness doesn’t lie in the objects we gather around us. To find it, all we need to do is open our eyes.”
The truth is we can never find happiness in objects if we are not happy. For a while, we can comfort us by buying things and finding joy in possession, but eventually, this blows up, and we get to be lonely with things and no emotions.
- “Why are you drinking? demanded the little prince. “So that I may forget,” replied the tippler. “Forget what?” inquired the little prince, who was already sorry for him. “Forget that I am ashamed,” the tippler confessed, hanging his head. “Ashamed of what?” insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him. “Ashamed of drinking!”
When difficulties overwhelm us, we have this urge to hide from the truth. Usually, we are aware of that and every day more ashamed if we don`t find the way out of this circle and we are trapped in our weaknesses.
I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water
- “Good morning,” said the Little Prince.
Good morning,” said the merchant.
Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince.
This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need for anything to drink.
Because they save a tremendous amount of time,” said the merchant. “Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.”
And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?”
Anything you like…”
As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”
Every man to live has to intake water because our body consists of 81% of water. If we don`t have time for this primary need what has happened to our lives? Is really every minute in our life calculated?
- “And the roses were humbled. “You’re lovely, but you’re empty,” he went on. “One couldn’t die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass. Since she’s the one I sheltered behind a screen. Since she’s the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three for butterflies.) Since she’s the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she’s my rose.”
It is pure love when we have this one special person, and nobody can replace him or her. We love, we care, we bear with their moods and just being together is enough.
- “In those days, I didn’t understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away! I ought to have realized the tenderness underlying her silly pretensions. Flowers are so contradictory! But I was too young to know how to love her.”
When we are young, we think we know everything. We take our lives in our hands and make decisions as if life was black and white. Then after some time, we realise that we could do things differently. This is the time we grow up a little bit more. Wisdom comes with age. In my forties, I am sure of it.
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