Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quotes

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Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

Even though human life may be the most precious thing on earth, we always behave as if there were something of higher value than human life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Night Flight, 1931)

The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Wisdom of the Sands, 1948)

"Where are the people?" resumed the little prince at last. "It's a little lonely in the desert..."
"It is lonely when you're among people, too," said the snake.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince, 1943)

We say nothing essential about the cathedral when we speak of its stones. We say nothing essential about Man when we seek to define him by the qualities of men.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Flight to Arras, 1942)

We do not pray for immortality, but only not to see our acts and all things stripped suddenly of all their meaning; for it is then the utter emptiness of everything reveals itself.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Night Flight, 1931)

To be a man is to be responsible: to be ashamed of miseries you did not cause; to be proud of your comrades' victories; to be aware, when setting one stone, that you are building a world.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures — in this century, as in others, our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

No destiny attacks us from outside. But, within him, man bears his fate and there comes a moment when he knows himself vulnerable; and then, as in a vertigo, blunder upon blunder lures him.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Night Flight, 1931)

Judging yourself... that is the most difficult thing of all. 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.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince, 1943)

Treason implies responsibility for something, control over something, influence upon something, knowledge of something. Treason in our time is a proof of genius. Why, I want to know, are not traitors decorated?

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Flight to Arras, 1942)

It is another of the miraculous things about mankind that there is no pain nor passion that does not radiate to the ends of the earth. Let a man in a garret but burn with enough intensity and he will set fire to the world.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

Only he can understand what a farm is, what a country is, who shall have sacrificed part of himself to his farm or country, fought to save it, struggled to make it beautiful. Only then will the love of farm or country fill his heart.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Flight to Arras, 1942)

To be a man is ... to be responsible. It is to feel shame at the sight of what seems to be unmerited misery. It is to take pride in a victory won by one's comrades. It is to feel, when setting one's stone, that one is contributing to the building of the world.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Flight to Arras, 1942)

Nobody grasped you by the shoulder while there was still time. Now the clay of which you were shaped has dried and hardened, and naught in you will ever awaken the sleeping musician, the poet, the astronomer that possibly inhabited you in the beginning.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

Nothing, in truth, can ever replace a lost companion. Old comrades cannot be manufactured. There is nothing that can equal the treasure of so many shared memories, so many bad times endured together, so many quarrels, reconciliations, heartfelt impulses. Friendships like that cannot be reconstructed.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939)

Commonly, people believe that defeat is characterized by a general bustle and a feverish rush. Bustle and rush are the signs of victory, not of defeat. Victory is a thing of action. It is a house in the act of being built. Every participant in victory sweats and puffs, carrying the stones for the building of the house. But defeat is a thing of weariness, of incoherence, of boredom. And above all of futility.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Flight to Arras, 1942)

What do we mean by setting a man free? You cannot free a man who dwells in a desert and is an unfeeling brute. There is no liberty except the liberty of some one making his way towards something. Such a man can be set free if you will teach him the meaning of thirst, and how to trace a path to a well. Only then will he embark upon a course of action that will not be without significance. You could not liberate a stone if there were no law of gravity—for where will the stone go, once it is quarried?

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Flight to Arras, 1942)

"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...."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince, 1943)

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.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince, 1943)

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Antoine de Saint-Exupery Biography

Born: June 29, 1900
Died: July 31, 1944

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a French wrtier, poet and aviator. He is best known for his written works most notably the novella "The Little Prince"

Notable Works

Night Flight (1931)
Wind, Sand and Stars (1939)
Flight to Arras (1942)
The Little Prince (1943)
The Wisdom of the Sands (1948)
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