Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quotes

A collection of quotes by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Antoine de Saint-ExupÃ©ry (1900-1944) was a French writer, aviator, and pioneering aviator. He was born on June 29, 1900, in Lyon, France. Saint-ExupÃ©ry developed a passion for aviation at an early age and pursued a career as a pilot. He learned to fly while serving in the French Air Force during World War I.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Saint-ExupÃ©ry worked as a commercial pilot for a French airmail company. He gained extensive experience flying over Africa, South America, and the Mediterranean. These experiences formed the basis for his celebrated memoir, "Wind, Sand and Stars," published in 1939. The memoir captured the challenges and triumphs of early aviation, blending adventure, philosophy, and poetic prose.

Saint-ExupÃ©ry's most famous work is the novella "The Little Prince," published in 1943. This beloved tale of a young prince who travels from planet to planet exploring different adults' peculiarities and philosophies became an instant classic. The story's whimsical and poignant narrative continues to enchant readers of all ages.

Tragically, Antoine de Saint-ExupÃ©ry's life was cut short during World War II. In 1944, while serving with the Free French Air Force, his plane disappeared during a reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean Sea. His legacy as a writer and aviator endures, with his works still cherished worldwide for their profound insights into humanity, nature, and the mysteries of life.

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

For true love is inexhaustible the more you give, the more y

For true love is inexhaustible the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says 'I was

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says 'I was beaten,' he does not say 'My men were beaten.'

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Once men are caught up in an event, they cease to be afraid.

Once men are caught up in an event, they cease to be afraid. Only the unknown frightens men.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.

I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in lookin

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but

The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

One can be a brother only in something. Where there is no ti

One can be a brother only in something. Where there is no tie that binds men, men are not united but merely lined up.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there i

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Only the unknown frightens men. But once a man has faced the

Only the unknown frightens men. But once a man has faced the unknown, that terror becomes the known.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human

I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man's self-respect is a sin.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the ze

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

'Men have forgotten this truth,' said the fox. 'But you must

'Men have forgotten this truth,' said the fox. 'But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.'

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of

The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs, and knowle

A civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs, and knowledge slowly accumulated in the course of centuries, elements difficult at times to justify by logic, but justifying themselves as paths when they lead somewhere, since they open up for man his inner distance.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Tell me who admires and loves you, and I will tell you who y

Tell me who admires and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for somet

Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus.

War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man

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-Exupery