The book The Little Prince was first published in 1943 by writer and pioneer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
When I first read this book, I, along with millions of people across the world, immediately fell in love with it.
The lessons it taught me have allowed me to open my eyes and see things with greater clarity. Every time I have read The Little Prince, I have taken different meanings from it depending on where I am in my life.
“Then you shall judge yourself,” answered the king. “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 rightly, then indeed you are very wise.”
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“No one has tamed you and you haven’t tamed anyone. You’re the way my fox was. He was just a fox like a hundred thousand others. But I’ve made him my friend, and now he’s the only fox in the world.”
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“That’s right,” said the fox. “To me, you are still just a little boy like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you have no need of me, either. To you, I am just a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we shall need one another. To me, you will be unique. And I shall be unique to you. ”
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“Grown-ups love figures… When you tell them you’ve 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 much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? ” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.”
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“All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems… But all these stars are silent. You—You alone will have stars as no one else has them… In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so, it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me… You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure… It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh”
If you haven’t already – I strongly recommend reading this book. Aimed at both children and adults, it is adorable but also brimming with thought-provoking ideas that really did get me thinking.
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