WIST Quotations

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- “Letter to an American” (1944)

Dave — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:02:45 +0000

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)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- (Spurious)

Dave — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 20:31:05 +0000

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.

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 5 (1948) [tr. Gilbert (1950)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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)]

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 46 (1948) [tr. Gilbert (1950)]

Dave — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 13:58:31 +0000

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)]

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 75 (1948)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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:

"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."

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:

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)]

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince] (1943)

Dave — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:30:49 +0000

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)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince] (1943)

Dave — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:06:35 +0000

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)

Other 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."

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince], ch. 1 (1943) [tr. Wood (1945)]

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 18:11:59 +0000

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

[Les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules, et c’est fatigant, pour les enfants, de toujours et toujours leur donner des explications.]

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) French writer, aviator
Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince], ch. 1 (1943) [tr. Wood (1945)]

(Source (French)). Other translation:

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.
[tr. Howard (2000)]

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince, ch. 2 (1943)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Pilote de Guerre [Flight to Arras] (1942)

Dave — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:42:33 +0000

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)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Pilote de Guerre [Flight to Arras] (1942)

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:11:09 +0000

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)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Terre des Hommes [Wind, Sand and Stars], ch. 2, sec. 2 (1939)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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)

Saint-Exupery, Antoine -- Wind, Sand and Stars [Terre des Hommes], ch. 9 “Barcelona and Madrid (1936),” sec. 6 (1939) [US ed., tr. Galantiere]

Dave — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:08:11 +0000

Life has taught us that love does not consist of gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.

[L’expérience nous montre qu’aimer ce n’est point nous regarder l’un l’autre mais regarder ensemble dans la même direction.]

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) French writer, aviator
Wind, Sand and Stars [Terre des Hommes], ch. 9 “Barcelona and Madrid (1936),” sec. 6 (1939) [US ed., tr. Galantiere]

(Source (French)). Usually given as:

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.]