The Little Prince By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I read this small book The Little Prince which appears to be a simple children's tale, But I would say that it is actually a profound and deeply moving tale, written in riddles and laced with philosopy and poetic metaphor.

I would like to quote some beautiful lines from the book.

* All grown-ups were children first. (But few remember it).

* Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters. They never ask: "What does his voice sound like?" "What games does he like best?" "Does he collect butterflies?". They ask: "How old is he?" "How many brothers does he have?" "How much does he weigh?" "How much money does his father make?" Only then do they think they know him.

* That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you're truly a wise man.

* All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travellers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all the stars are silent."

* "Language is the source of misunderstandings."

* "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."


The Little Prince, stands in a class by itself, and expresses the world-weary and cynical author's yearning for a genuine and more sincere and introspective world.


Understanding life is what this story is about, for both the author and his subject. The Little Prince lived happily alone on his small planet until the wind planted for him a new seed, from which sprang the loveliest flower he had ever seen. He lavished his love and attention upon the flower, which in turn tormented him with her vanity and her pride, ultimately driving him to abandon his home and venture forth into the galaxy in search of the secret of what is really important in life. He learns this secret, finally, from a creature of the Earth - a fox. With his new level of understanding, the Little Prince is at last ready to return home, but not before he passes on his new knowledge to the author - knowledge of the healing power of love which makes all things unique, and how the pain of saying goodbye is worth it if it changes how we look at the world.


And that is how it goes. Little nuggets of wisdom delivered in an offhanded fashion, told through the words of a child, for it is a child who understands and values the absolute truth, the truth that goes beyond boundaries and beyond the self. The truth where one can love a rose and not be ridiculed, because in this truth the object of love is not important – what matters is that there is love.


I'd like to close with a quote from the book's own jacket copy: "There are a few stories which in some way, in some degree, change the world forever for their readers. This is one."