Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Quotes

“And the little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter, which irritated me very much. I like my misfortunes to be taken seriously.”

“Language is the source of misunderstandings.”

“But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference.”

“When I find a woman attractive, I have nothing at all to say. I simply watch her smile. Intellectuals take apart her face in order to explain it bit by bit, but they no longer see the smile.”

“We are prudent people. We are afraid to let go of our petty reality in order to grasp at a great shadow.”

“Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas.”

“The notion of looking on at life has always been hateful to me. What am I if I am not a participant? In order to be, I must participate.”

“Perfection is attained, not when no more can be added, but when no more can be removed.”

“Sometimes, there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day.”

“Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak.”

“I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me.”

“Of course I’ll hurt you. Of course you’ll hurt me. Of course we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence.”

“The tender friendships one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried.”

“Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself.”

“To love is not to look at one another: it is to look, together, in the same direction.”

“The seed haunted by the sun never fails to find its way between the stones in the ground. And the pure logician, if no sun draws him forth, remains entangled in his logic.”

“Friendship is born from an identity of spiritual goals - from common navigation toward a star.”

“When we think that the machine will harm man, then it is perhaps because we are not yet capable of judging the rapid changes it has brought about. We hardly feel at home in this landscape of mines and power stations. We have just moved into this new home that we have not even finished yet. Everything around us has changed so fast - personal relations, working conditions, habits. Even our state of mind is in turmoil.”

“Of what worth are convictions that bring not suffering?”

“How could there be any question of acquiring or possessing, when the one thing needful for a man is to become - to be at last, and to die in the fullness of his being.”

“One is a member of a country, a profession, a civilization, a religion. One is not just a man.”

“I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are naive. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons.”

“One can be a brother only in something. Where there is no tie that binds men, men are not united but merely lined up.”

“For there is but one problem - the problem of human relations. We forget that there is no hope or joy except in human relations.”

“If you want to build a ship, teach the men to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”