8 Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quotes from The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (29th June 1900 – 31st July 1944) was a French writer, poet and pioneering aviator, best known for The Little Prince, the most translated novel in the world.

A successful commercial pilot before World War II, Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote in his spare time but his real obsession was flying. One of the pioneers of international postal flight he flew when aircraft had few instruments. In 1935 he brought down his aircraft over the desert in Morocco, surviving the crash he was finally rescued after four days and served as inspiration for The Little Prince.

In 1940, Saint-Exupery would exile to North America due to the German invasion of France and in 1944 he would take to the air in an attempt to help defeat the Nazis, going down over France the author would remain missing to this day.

Saint-Exupery wrote several books during his relatively short life, the most famous of these being The Little Prince. Today we’re featuring some of our favourite quotes from the author from his best known work.

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“That is the most difficult thing of all. It is far more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself correctly, then you are truly a man of wisdom.”

“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed”

“If you love a flower which happens to be on a star, it is sweet at night to gaze at the sky. All the stars are a riot of flowers.”

“One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets oneself be tamed…”

“Supposing I know of a flower that is absolutely unique, that is nowhere to be found except on my planet, and any minute that flower could accidentally be eaten up by a little lamb, isn’t that important? If a person loves a flower that is the only one of its kind on all the millions and millions of stars, then gazing at the night sky is enough to make him happy. He says to himself “My flower is out there somewhere.” But if the lamb eats the flower, then suddenly it’s as if all the stars had stopped shining. Isn’t that important?”

“My flower is ephemeral,” the little prince said to himself, “and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!” That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more.”