If it is true that wars are won by believers, it is also true that peace treaties are sometimes signed by businessmen.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
“Letter to an American” (1944)
Quotations by:
Saint-Exupery, Antoine
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
(Spurious)
The earliest version of this quote is found as an anonymous proverb in Joan Horbiak, 50 Ways to Lose Ten Pounds (1995). The earliest association with Saint-Exupéry dates to around 2007. It's sometimes further pinned down to The Little Prince (1943); it does not appear there, but that's Saint-Exupéry's best-known book.
The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves but in our attitude towards them.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 5 (1948) [tr. Gilbert (1950)]
(Source)
Where the heart is in the giving, there is no question of goods that are being traded thriftily. In giving, you throw a bridge across the chasm of your solitude.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 46 (1948) [tr. Gilbert (1950)]
(Source)
One will weave the canvas; another will fell a tree by the light of his ax. Yet another will forge nails, and there will be others who observe the stars to learn how to navigate. And yet all will be as one. Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky. It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a community of love.
[Celui-là tissera des toiles, l’autre dans la forêt par l’éclair de sa hache couchera l’arbre. L’autre, encore, forgera des clous, et il en sera quelque part qui observeront les étoiles afin d’apprendre à gouverner. Et tous cependant ne seront qu’un. Créer le navire ce n’est point tisser les toiles, forger les clous, lire les astres, mais bien donner le goût de la mer qui est un, et à la lumière duquel il n’est plus rien qui soit contradictoire mais communauté dans l’amour.]
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 75 (1948)
(Source (French))
This looks to be the origin of the following, more common attributions to Saint-Exupery:
This quotation (and variation) are discussed here: Teach Them to Yearn for the Vast and Endless Sea – Quote Investigator. That article may in fact be the source of the English translation above; the standard translation does not translate much of ch. 75 as found in the above French. It includes only:
- "If you wish to build a ship, do not divide the men into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea."
- "If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
- "If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men and women to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
- "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the workers to gather wood, don't divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
Instill in a people’s heart the love of sailing ships, and it will draw into itself all that is fervent in your land and transmute it into sails and rigging.
[tr. Gilbert (1950)]
What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.
[Ce qui embellit le désert, dit le petit prince, c’est qu’il cache un puits quelque part.]
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince] (1943)
Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.
[Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.]
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince] (1943)
Alternate translations:
- "Here is my secret. It is very simple: one sees well only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes."
- "The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes, but with the heart."
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince, ch. 2 (1943)
Demagoguery enters at the moment when, for want of a common denominator, the principle of equality degenerates into the principle of identity.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Pilote de Guerre [Flight to Arras] (1942)
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Pilote de Guerre [Flight to Arras] (1942)
Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.
[Aimer, ce n’est pas se regarder l’un l’autre, c’est regarder ensemble dans la même direction.]
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Terre des Hommes [Wind, Sand and Stars] (1939)
Once men are caught up in an event, they cease to be afraid. Only the unknown frightens men.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Terre des Hommes [Wind, Sand and Stars], ch. 2, sec. 2 (1939)