Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble.
All men have the stars, but they are not the same things for different people.
If you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life.
The flower had once seen a caravan passing.
- Men? I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes their lives very difficult.
You move me to pity - you are so weak on this Earth made of granite.
All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet. The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them.
What the Little Prince did not dare confess was that he was sorry most of all to leave this planet, because it was blest every day with 1440 sunsets!
Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself.
When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful.
- Why are you drinking?
- So that I may forget.
- Forget what?
- Forget that I am ashamed.
- Ashamed of what?
- Ashamed of drinking!
Conceited people never hear anything but praise.
To conceited men, all other men are admirers.
It is such a secret place, the land of tears.
I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He had never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures.
To forget a friend is sad. Not every one has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures.
Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have 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 many brothers has 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.
- One day I saw the sunset forty-four times! You know, one loves the sunset, when one is so sad...
- Were you so sad, then? On the day of the forty-four sunsets?
But the Little Prince made no reply.
Well, I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful.
But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart...
Only children know what they are looking for.
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