My Favourite Quotes From The Little Prince
Some books touch your heart; others change how you see the world. For me, The Little Prince did both. The story itself is wrapped in the simplicity of a children’s tale but carries profound wisdom. It is far more than a story about meeting a stranger in a desert. It’s a reminder of the things we often forget as we grow up. Below are some of my favourite quotes from The Little Prince.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
“All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.”
“‘Where are the people? It is a little lonely in the desert…’
‘It is also lonely among men,’ the snake said.”
“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.
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.”“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
“‘I am looking for friends. What does that mean — tame?’
‘It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.’‘To establish ties?’
‘Just that,’ said the fox. ‘To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world…’”
“To forget a friend is sad. Not everyone has had a friend.”
“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”
“If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers…”
‘Are there hunters on that planet?’ [said the fox]
‘No.’ [said the little prince]
‘Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?’
‘No.’
‘Nothing is perfect,’ sighed the fox.
But he came back to his idea.
‘My life is very monotonous,’ the fox said. ‘I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat . . .’
and finally…
“So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near —
‘Ah,’ said the fox, ‘I shall cry.’
‘It is your own fault,’ said the little prince. ‘I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . .’
‘Yes, that is so,’ said the fox.
‘But now you are going to cry!’ said the little prince.
‘Yes, that is so,’ said the fox.
‘Then it has done you no good at all!’
‘It has done me good,’ said the fox, ‘because of the color of the wheat fields.’
