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The Little Prince: And Letter to a Hostage (Penguin Modern Classics Translated Texts) by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's timeless tale, reissued in a beautiful clothbound edition designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry first published The Little Prince in 1943, only a year before his plane vanished over the Mediterranean during a reconnaissance mission. Nearly eighty years later, this fable of love and loneliness has lost none of its power.The narrator is a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert, frantically trying to repair his wrecked plane. His efforts are interrupted one day by the apparition of a little prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. "In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don't dare disobey," the narrator recalls. "Absurd as it seemed, a thousand miles from all inhabited regions and in danger of death, I took a scrap of paper and a pen out of my pocket." And so begins their dialogue, which stretches the narrator's imagination in all sorts of surprising, childlike directions.
Paperback Bunko
First published January 1, 1943
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About the author
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
1,296 books8,609 followersPeople best know French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for his fairy tale
The Little Prince
(1943).
He flew for the first time at the age of 12 years in 1912 at the Ambérieu airfield and then determined to a pilot. Even after moving to a school in Switzerland and spending summer vacations at the château of the family at Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens in east, he kept that ambition. He repeatedly uses the house at Saint-Maurice.
Later, in Paris, he failed the entrance exams for the naval academy and instead enrolled at the prestigious l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1921, Saint-Exupéry, stationed in Strasbourg, began serving in the military. He learned and forever settled his career path as a pilot. After leaving the service in 1923, Saint-Exupéry worked in several professions but in 1926 went back and signed as a pilot for Aéropostale, a private airline that from Toulouse flew mail to Dakar, Senegal. In 1927, Saint-Exupéry accepted the position of airfield chief for Cape Juby in southern Morocco and began his first book, a memoir, called Southern Mail and published in 1929.
He then moved briefly to Buenos Aires to oversee the establishment of an Argentinean mail service, returned to Paris in 1931, and then published Night Flight , which won instant success and the prestigious Prix Femina. Always daring Saint-Exupéry tried from Paris in 1935 to break the speed record for flying to Saigon. Unfortunately, his plane crashed in the Libyan Desert, and he and his copilot trudged through the sand for three days to find help. In 1938, a second plane crash at that time, as he tried to fly between city of New York and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, seriously injured him. The crash resulted in a long convalescence in New York.
He published Wind, Sand and Stars , next novel, in 1939. This great success won the grand prize for novel of the academy and the national book award in the United States. Saint-Exupéry flew reconnaissance missions at the beginning of the Second World War but went to New York to ask the United States for help when the Germans occupied his country. He drew on his wartime experiences to publish Flight to Arras and Letter to a Hostage in 1942.
Later in 1943, Saint-Exupéry rejoined his air squadron in northern Africa. From earlier plane crashes, Saint-Exupéry still suffered physically, and people forbade him to fly, but he insisted on a mission. From Borgo, Corsica, on 31 July 1944, he set to overfly occupied region. He never returned.
He flew for the first time at the age of 12 years in 1912 at the Ambérieu airfield and then determined to a pilot. Even after moving to a school in Switzerland and spending summer vacations at the château of the family at Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens in east, he kept that ambition. He repeatedly uses the house at Saint-Maurice.
Later, in Paris, he failed the entrance exams for the naval academy and instead enrolled at the prestigious l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1921, Saint-Exupéry, stationed in Strasbourg, began serving in the military. He learned and forever settled his career path as a pilot. After leaving the service in 1923, Saint-Exupéry worked in several professions but in 1926 went back and signed as a pilot for Aéropostale, a private airline that from Toulouse flew mail to Dakar, Senegal. In 1927, Saint-Exupéry accepted the position of airfield chief for Cape Juby in southern Morocco and began his first book, a memoir, called Southern Mail and published in 1929.
He then moved briefly to Buenos Aires to oversee the establishment of an Argentinean mail service, returned to Paris in 1931, and then published Night Flight , which won instant success and the prestigious Prix Femina. Always daring Saint-Exupéry tried from Paris in 1935 to break the speed record for flying to Saigon. Unfortunately, his plane crashed in the Libyan Desert, and he and his copilot trudged through the sand for three days to find help. In 1938, a second plane crash at that time, as he tried to fly between city of New York and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, seriously injured him. The crash resulted in a long convalescence in New York.
He published Wind, Sand and Stars , next novel, in 1939. This great success won the grand prize for novel of the academy and the national book award in the United States. Saint-Exupéry flew reconnaissance missions at the beginning of the Second World War but went to New York to ask the United States for help when the Germans occupied his country. He drew on his wartime experiences to publish Flight to Arras and Letter to a Hostage in 1942.
Later in 1943, Saint-Exupéry rejoined his air squadron in northern Africa. From earlier plane crashes, Saint-Exupéry still suffered physically, and people forbade him to fly, but he insisted on a mission. From Borgo, Corsica, on 31 July 1944, he set to overfly occupied region. He never returned.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 797 reviews
June 17, 2021
lo lamento, yo este libro no puedo ni verlo, mentí por mucho tiempo para encajar en su sociedad horrenda pero ¿saben que? no me importa, odio el principito, me parece denso, las peores 100 paginas de mi vida, interminable, con frases que estoy harta de escuchar.
en fin, es mi mas honesta opinión del clásico que puedo dar y si no les gusta, no me importa, no voy a cambiar de opinión para tratar encajar nuevamente.
en fin, es mi mas honesta opinión del clásico que puedo dar y si no les gusta, no me importa, no voy a cambiar de opinión para tratar encajar nuevamente.
September 21, 2008
i couldnt put the book down since the first time i touched it. i couldnt believe that this book is a children book, seriously?
in my humble opinion i would say this is an adult book written by an adult to the world of adulthood. all of the children instruments in there are only symbols and mediums of the idea being presented.
anyway,the book has tamed me, just like the boy has tamed the fox or the rose has tamed the boy (without him realizing it). There are so many wonderful books out there but this one is too beautiful to just see it as one among so many...because the book has tamed me so that i can see it's uniqueness stands out in all the vast expanse of my universe of books...
Exupéry has depressed me, somehow. Reading it made me feel regretful, like i owed many people a second glance. The book has a gloomy message not because of the ending or anything to do with it but i think the writer was lonely and he transported that loneliness to me, the reader...
It made me regret the things i havent done that i should have done...i missed the things i have tamed and have tamed me and that i have just ignored them as something like a roadkill, dropped somewhere along the way and never reckoned a second glance. I should have read this book long ago...things would have been different, wouldnt them?
some great quotes from the book:
"you can only see things clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye"
"it is the time that you wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important"
in my humble opinion i would say this is an adult book written by an adult to the world of adulthood. all of the children instruments in there are only symbols and mediums of the idea being presented.
anyway,the book has tamed me, just like the boy has tamed the fox or the rose has tamed the boy (without him realizing it). There are so many wonderful books out there but this one is too beautiful to just see it as one among so many...because the book has tamed me so that i can see it's uniqueness stands out in all the vast expanse of my universe of books...
Exupéry has depressed me, somehow. Reading it made me feel regretful, like i owed many people a second glance. The book has a gloomy message not because of the ending or anything to do with it but i think the writer was lonely and he transported that loneliness to me, the reader...
It made me regret the things i havent done that i should have done...i missed the things i have tamed and have tamed me and that i have just ignored them as something like a roadkill, dropped somewhere along the way and never reckoned a second glance. I should have read this book long ago...things would have been different, wouldnt them?
some great quotes from the book:
"you can only see things clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye"
"it is the time that you wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important"
July 27, 2025
Reading The Little Prince in context is, to me, a much better experience than simply reading it on its own (which is what I did when I first read it), so I really like this edition that includes quite a bit of info about the author's life and Letter to a Hostage.
May 14, 2015
I've just finished reading The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.
I loved it so much that I've just bought 4 more copies to give them to my son & nephews.
The author was an enlightened being. He had great wisdom and knowledge. There are so many invaluable life lessons for us all to learn in this amazing book!!
I loved it so much that I've just bought 4 more copies to give them to my son & nephews.
The author was an enlightened being. He had great wisdom and knowledge. There are so many invaluable life lessons for us all to learn in this amazing book!!
September 27, 2016
"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
What a beautiful, stunning book. What I love most about this book is that it can be read any age and at any time in your life, and yet have a different meaning each time. This was one of the first proper books that I read as a child and I clearly remember falling in love with it. Now on my re-read, I can remember why.
The Little Prince is a story about a little boy who loves alone on a planet that is not much bigger than himself. One day he leaves behind the safety of his childlike world to travel around the universe where he is introduced to strange adult behaviours through a series of extraordinary encounters. This results in a trip to Earth and even further adventures.
This book is so reminiscent of childhood and the book is a reminder in itself that we are all, in a way, still children. Because it is our past and our memories and our encounters that make up the adults we are today. But it is also a stark reminder that as adults, we no longer see things for what they are. Many of our pursuits have in fact, taken on a disproportionate importance. In this book, the adults don't even know why do what they do. But it's from the Little Prince and the fox and the rose that we truly learn what is important and what is not, what questions are worth asking and which are not.
"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart."
What a beautiful, stunning book. What I love most about this book is that it can be read any age and at any time in your life, and yet have a different meaning each time. This was one of the first proper books that I read as a child and I clearly remember falling in love with it. Now on my re-read, I can remember why.
The Little Prince is a story about a little boy who loves alone on a planet that is not much bigger than himself. One day he leaves behind the safety of his childlike world to travel around the universe where he is introduced to strange adult behaviours through a series of extraordinary encounters. This results in a trip to Earth and even further adventures.
This book is so reminiscent of childhood and the book is a reminder in itself that we are all, in a way, still children. Because it is our past and our memories and our encounters that make up the adults we are today. But it is also a stark reminder that as adults, we no longer see things for what they are. Many of our pursuits have in fact, taken on a disproportionate importance. In this book, the adults don't even know why do what they do. But it's from the Little Prince and the fox and the rose that we truly learn what is important and what is not, what questions are worth asking and which are not.
"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart."
January 4, 2021
The Little Prince is beautiful, but BLEAK. And when I did some research, I found out that de Saint-Exupéry’s life was no picnic, and it came to imitate his art in the most heartbreaking way. Suffice to say here, there’s a LOT more to this story than quaint aphorisms.
My review of The Little Prince appears in full on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My review of The Little Prince appears in full on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
November 9, 2018
What an unpredictable book! I had no idea what to expect, but my youngest son was reading it one evening and laughing out loud, so I knew it must be worth a look. When he finished reading it, I started reading it aloud to the whole family in the evenings (well, it only took two evenings; it's a short book that's hard to put down). It moves from adventure story, into Roald Dahl territory, and then on to allegorical lessons on life, and concludes with a bittersweet, emotional ending.
The language is beautiful, sometimes hilarious and sometimes extremely apt in its descriptions of the world and human nature. I don't know how I'd never read it before, or even heard much about it, but I'm glad to have found another classic. We all enjoyed sharing the story together.
And I did memorize the location at the end of the book—just in case I'm ever in exactly that spot in the Sahara. :)
I wish I had something wiser to write about The Little Prince, but I'm still processing it, and will be for some days, I'm sure.
The language is beautiful, sometimes hilarious and sometimes extremely apt in its descriptions of the world and human nature. I don't know how I'd never read it before, or even heard much about it, but I'm glad to have found another classic. We all enjoyed sharing the story together.
And I did memorize the location at the end of the book—just in case I'm ever in exactly that spot in the Sahara. :)
I wish I had something wiser to write about The Little Prince, but I'm still processing it, and will be for some days, I'm sure.
December 25, 2021
The 5 star rating is for the quality of the clothbound edition of the famous story "The Little Prince". I'm a true fan of the clothbound edition and this one is such a lovely treasure. The whole design outside and inside are beautifully done, and I especially love the cover work which is not displaying the little prince himself which is mostly done with other books. The haptic of each page is wonderful as well and the books absolutely gives joy and thrills while reading.
This is not my first book of "The Little Prince" but the edition was so pretty so I had to buy it, haha. And I really love it so much! The book also includes a good introduction into the story and "Letter to a Hostage".
This is not my first book of "The Little Prince" but the edition was so pretty so I had to buy it, haha. And I really love it so much! The book also includes a good introduction into the story and "Letter to a Hostage".
August 15, 2018
6 of 5 stars !
Ladies and gentlemen
I have a favorite book !
This sums up the whole thing : I was in a bad mood when I picked it up, but my heart pumped happiness since I read it.
Whether you are an adult or a child, this book is for you.
“ Now here is my secret. It’s very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
I’ll try not to spoil anything:
While the adult narrator is immersed in the problems of adults’ world, the little prince appears out of nowhere and carries him back to the world of children; a world that makes sense, compared to adults’ world. The little prince uses the magical words: draw me a sheep.
The little prince, as a child, attempts to understand the world of adults, but every time he comes across one he says: “Grown-ups are very strange.” . The little prince experiences love, sorrow, friendship, and other things that define us as humans. In short terms, this novel represents life as it is from the perspective of a really bright, wise child; the Little Prince.
Here are some amazing quotes that caught my eye or my heart, to be more precise.
“It is far more difficult to judge oneself than to judge other. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then indeed you are very wise”
”only children know what they are looking for”
"My star will just be one of these stars for you, so you will love looking up at them all. They will all be your friends. and I have a present for you..
The stars mean different things to different people.When you look up at the sky at night, I shall be living on one of them and laughing. You and only you will have stars that can laugh ! "
JUST PICK IT UP !
Ladies and gentlemen
I have a favorite book !
This sums up the whole thing : I was in a bad mood when I picked it up, but my heart pumped happiness since I read it.
Whether you are an adult or a child, this book is for you.
“ Now here is my secret. It’s very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
I’ll try not to spoil anything:
While the adult narrator is immersed in the problems of adults’ world, the little prince appears out of nowhere and carries him back to the world of children; a world that makes sense, compared to adults’ world. The little prince uses the magical words: draw me a sheep.
The little prince, as a child, attempts to understand the world of adults, but every time he comes across one he says: “Grown-ups are very strange.” . The little prince experiences love, sorrow, friendship, and other things that define us as humans. In short terms, this novel represents life as it is from the perspective of a really bright, wise child; the Little Prince.
Here are some amazing quotes that caught my eye or my heart, to be more precise.
“It is far more difficult to judge oneself than to judge other. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then indeed you are very wise”
”only children know what they are looking for”
"My star will just be one of these stars for you, so you will love looking up at them all. They will all be your friends. and I have a present for you..
The stars mean different things to different people.When you look up at the sky at night, I shall be living on one of them and laughing. You and only you will have stars that can laugh ! "
JUST PICK IT UP !
November 6, 2021
“You can only see things clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Fave. Of. All. Time.
Fave. Of. All. Time.
February 2, 2016
Penguin translation is more poetic compared to Picador so I found myself enjoyed it more. But I've already wrote my review for The Little Prince.
This here is my review for Letter to a Hostage.
It was a self-discovery sort of story and there is just so many great quotes in almost all the paragraph but alas, it is a story that's hard for me to relate to since I'm not French nor do I have ever visited the country.
But it is also for his friend who suffered when the German invaded France during WW2. How he felt and hope for this friend of his. Obviously there is a lot to ponder of one values and of humans value in general.
Story 4/5
Character 3/5
Development 3/5
Enjoyment 3/5
Style of writing 4/5
Overall 3.4/5
This here is my review for Letter to a Hostage.
It was a self-discovery sort of story and there is just so many great quotes in almost all the paragraph but alas, it is a story that's hard for me to relate to since I'm not French nor do I have ever visited the country.
But it is also for his friend who suffered when the German invaded France during WW2. How he felt and hope for this friend of his. Obviously there is a lot to ponder of one values and of humans value in general.
Story 4/5
Character 3/5
Development 3/5
Enjoyment 3/5
Style of writing 4/5
Overall 3.4/5
February 26, 2016
'একবার যাকে পোষ মানিয়েছো, তার ভার সারাজীবন নিতে হয়।'
February 7, 2009
I read this book in the course of a couple of hours when I was a junior in high school. My sister and I had both studied French, and her teacher had recommended it. My sister asked me once during a conversation if the sheep had eaten the flower. Having no idea what she was talking about I ignored the question and thus became a grown up. Horrified by my answer, my sister handed me the book and told me not to move until I had finished it. I read it, and once I was allowed to move I looked out my front window at the night stars and realized how such a simple question could be a matter of so much importance. I still find myself wondering sometimes if the little prince has remembered to put the muzzle on the sheep and the glass over the flower, and I see how everything changes. My view of life changed because of the little prince, his peels of laughter, and his childish need to ask certain questions but not answer others. I have been comforted many times by this book and its uncanny ability to make me forget about even the most difficult things in life and see the world again through the eyes of a child. If you haven't read this book, then you must. It will only take a few hours of your time, but it will give you the world if you let it. Enjoy.
November 15, 2011
I picked this up after finding myself in Queenstown with two hours to kill and nothing to read. I had never heard of it before but the children's book in the Penguin Modern Classic format intrigued me.
The resulting fable for children, plays as a warning to the adult to retain that wonder of the world that keeps us grounded, reminding us of the real magic and importance of life. The adult world is mocked and ridiculed, wrapped up with figures, pomposity, ceremony and self absorption, as we meet the Little Prince and uncover his journey around the galaxy, encountering strange people living their own strange lives. All while trapped in the desert.
It's an odd and affecting story, rather melancholy in tone and infused with loneliness and a sense of isolation from the world and people around. There's a magical underbelly, some wonderfully clear prose (translated from the French) and self mocking illustrations to set the scene.
The tale is complemented by 'Letter to a Hostage', penned to his intellectual friend during the second world war. It's an evocative read, sad yet hopeful.
Overall, a lovely and well presented little book. Worth having tucked away on your shelves somewhere for the future.
The resulting fable for children, plays as a warning to the adult to retain that wonder of the world that keeps us grounded, reminding us of the real magic and importance of life. The adult world is mocked and ridiculed, wrapped up with figures, pomposity, ceremony and self absorption, as we meet the Little Prince and uncover his journey around the galaxy, encountering strange people living their own strange lives. All while trapped in the desert.
It's an odd and affecting story, rather melancholy in tone and infused with loneliness and a sense of isolation from the world and people around. There's a magical underbelly, some wonderfully clear prose (translated from the French) and self mocking illustrations to set the scene.
The tale is complemented by 'Letter to a Hostage', penned to his intellectual friend during the second world war. It's an evocative read, sad yet hopeful.
Overall, a lovely and well presented little book. Worth having tucked away on your shelves somewhere for the future.
March 9, 2025
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
There’s nothing unique I can say about The Little Prince except it’s a delightful little fable. A man crash-lands his plane in a remote part of the Sahara (like the author in real life). Then this man meets a little prince who’s from the stars who tells of his adventures. In this journey, this little prince goes to several planets, learning about the behaviours of adults, and meets extraordinary people. The Little Prince's sincere love for his flower, the relationship with the fox, etc. It has some neat musings about life and acceptance of certain tough experiences everyone has to endure in their life while seeing why life is so precious. Is it a bit on the nose? Sure, but it’s a fantastical and charming odyssey, a moral allegory, and a spiritual autobiography. This modern Penguin Classics edition was excellent; I really enjoyed the translation of T.V.F. Cuffe and the companion Letter to a Hostage, which is a letter the author wrote to a Jewish intellectual hiding in occupied France in 1943. I would say the writing in that is even more touching. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was definitely an excellent writer, and how he describes his experience in the Sahara Desert, but just the people he encountered. There was a certain passage about smiles, and it was delightful. So yeah, just read it.
7.5/10
February 23, 2025
But he did not answer. He said:
'What is important cannot be seen.'
'Yes, I know.'
'It's the same as with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look up at the night sky. All the stars are in bloom.'
'Yes, I know.'
'It's the same as with the water. What you gave me to drink was a kind of music, because of the pulley and the rope... Do you remember... how good it was?"
'Yes, I know.'
'At night, you will look up at the stars. Mine is too small to point out to you. It is better that way. For you, my star will be just one of many stars. That way, you will love watching all of them...
Read for teaching this to 2 groups of students who chose it for their independent reading assessment. One group wanted to switch to The Kite Runner because this was 'too easy' - I told them they're not looking hard enough and this is a beautiful book but what I should have really said is that the kite runner sucks and I don't wanna teach it lol.
I would honestly love to have that lamplighter's job, or be the eminently reasonable king of everything, or have a little diva flower to keep me company sweeping out my volcanoes.
June 22, 2025
I only read The Little Prince, but am reviewing this edition because for some reason GoodReads is failing to add my review to the main edition of The Little Prince.
*
The Little Prince was a fun and lovely story to start with but there's something that stops me loving it. The humour, drawings, and originality of it are amazing, and reminds me why I love Kurt Vonnegut's stories, but unlike those stories, I couldn't relate to The Little Prince. The plot was a bit too wayward and the ending abrupt, contrived, forced, abstract. It also started very light and happy and got super heavy, like, more than I felt was conducive to the story or reader. I may reread it again to see if I can relate more, but the exact reason for why The Little Prince arrived and stayed seemed so unlikely and coincidental that it made the ending seem unnecessary, preventable, and not that enlightening? I may be missing something, but I wish it stayed true to its start.
*
The Little Prince was a fun and lovely story to start with but there's something that stops me loving it. The humour, drawings, and originality of it are amazing, and reminds me why I love Kurt Vonnegut's stories, but unlike those stories, I couldn't relate to The Little Prince. The plot was a bit too wayward and the ending abrupt, contrived, forced, abstract. It also started very light and happy and got super heavy, like, more than I felt was conducive to the story or reader. I may reread it again to see if I can relate more, but the exact reason for why The Little Prince arrived and stayed seemed so unlikely and coincidental that it made the ending seem unnecessary, preventable, and not that enlightening? I may be missing something, but I wish it stayed true to its start.
February 17, 2016
5 stars. So many feels. Is this really a children book?
June 30, 2022
beautifully composed: writing is simple but thought-provoking. the kind of book you have to read as a child, as an adult and as an old person lol. i think it is a book that deserves to be revisited time and time again to really take in everything it has to offer. i have never read a book as versatile as the little prince. the icing on the cake was the editor's decision to include Letter to a Hostage at the end of the book because you really see the lessons that Antoine is trying to impart applied to a real-life context. such simple, fundamental principles of life are present in his reflections during ww2 and expounded upon to reveal insightful comments on the human experience: grief, identity, kindness, friendship.
My favourite quotes from Letter to a Hostage:
"The dead should be treated as dead. As such, they can then regain a different kind of presence. But the families I am speaking of prevent this return. They make the dead into missing persons for eternity, into guests who will forever be late. They barter mourning for a hollow expectation. And such homes seem to me plunged into a sort of interminable wretchedness far more stifling than grief itself."
[On gambling during the war] "Reliving the past, they forced themselves to behave as if the world had not been falling apart for however many months, as if their excitement was real, as if their cheques were covered, as if the conventions they lived by were to last for ever. It was hallucinatory. Like a puppet ballet. But it depressed one."
"The essential, as usual, is imponderable. The essential here, so it seems, was but a smile. But often the essential is indeed a smile. One is paid by a smile, repaid by a smile, quickened by a smile."
"Is not this capacity for joy the most precious fruit of the civilisation that is ours? A totalitarian tyranny, too, might satisfy us in our material needs. Except that we are not beasts to be fattened. Prosperity and creature comforts alone could never fulfill all our needs. For those of us brought up to believe in human respect, the simplest encounters often bear the heaviest meaning. ...Human respect! There is the touchstone. For as long as the Nazi respects only what resembles him, he respects nothing but himself. In rejecting contradiction he destroys all hope of man's ascent, establishing for a thousand years in its place the robotism of the ant-heap. Order for order's sake castrates man of his essential power, which is to transform both the world and himself. Life creates order, but order does not create life."
My favourite quotes from Letter to a Hostage:
"The dead should be treated as dead. As such, they can then regain a different kind of presence. But the families I am speaking of prevent this return. They make the dead into missing persons for eternity, into guests who will forever be late. They barter mourning for a hollow expectation. And such homes seem to me plunged into a sort of interminable wretchedness far more stifling than grief itself."
[On gambling during the war] "Reliving the past, they forced themselves to behave as if the world had not been falling apart for however many months, as if their excitement was real, as if their cheques were covered, as if the conventions they lived by were to last for ever. It was hallucinatory. Like a puppet ballet. But it depressed one."
"The essential, as usual, is imponderable. The essential here, so it seems, was but a smile. But often the essential is indeed a smile. One is paid by a smile, repaid by a smile, quickened by a smile."
"Is not this capacity for joy the most precious fruit of the civilisation that is ours? A totalitarian tyranny, too, might satisfy us in our material needs. Except that we are not beasts to be fattened. Prosperity and creature comforts alone could never fulfill all our needs. For those of us brought up to believe in human respect, the simplest encounters often bear the heaviest meaning. ...Human respect! There is the touchstone. For as long as the Nazi respects only what resembles him, he respects nothing but himself. In rejecting contradiction he destroys all hope of man's ascent, establishing for a thousand years in its place the robotism of the ant-heap. Order for order's sake castrates man of his essential power, which is to transform both the world and himself. Life creates order, but order does not create life."
June 9, 2013
After six months, I sigh!
OMG, I dropped tears, I shocked losing him here, never answer a question and never let a question to go, and I am n miss with The Little Prince.
The novel is like a magic, if you are just 5 years old you will deeply enjoy your mum reading you a chapter every night with her kind voice and your imagination is fulfilling you while you looking to the stars.
If you are 25 –like me- you will touch the wisdom, the deepness, and that sweety pain while you are looking to the star and listen to the laughter!
The Novel is more than 25 chapters lie in few papers; it is the wisdom of life concluded professionally with the whole simplicity that ever exists.
It touches deeply the child inside me and gave me hope to be better, more realizable, less talkie, much appreciator to people.
It gave me the proof that I was right in many thoughts while others kept calling me stranger.
You can tame a fox one day, and you shall have the enough strength to show the grown-ups how taming foxes is great!
I dream of being there in African desert one day, I will go to that spot, looking for him. If he comes again I will write you a word, and if not I will never stop looking at the stars and listen to the laughter.
The experience of having the pleasure reading it in six months is different. I was keeping it as having a hidden piece of sweet no to eat it but to know that when life is very bitter, there is something extraordinary sweet you already own, which is a good reason to smile.
It deserves to be kept, reading it chapter by chapter when the surroundings deserve the feeling you will spread. Early mornings; near a window while ice is everywhere outside, and it is only you with a hot cup of coffee. While you are setting alone on the train and the long road is running outside.
I really enjoyed reading it in winter and spring.
Sherouk M. Salah
08.06.13. Leverkusen, Germany
OMG, I dropped tears, I shocked losing him here, never answer a question and never let a question to go, and I am n miss with The Little Prince.
The novel is like a magic, if you are just 5 years old you will deeply enjoy your mum reading you a chapter every night with her kind voice and your imagination is fulfilling you while you looking to the stars.
If you are 25 –like me- you will touch the wisdom, the deepness, and that sweety pain while you are looking to the star and listen to the laughter!
The Novel is more than 25 chapters lie in few papers; it is the wisdom of life concluded professionally with the whole simplicity that ever exists.
It touches deeply the child inside me and gave me hope to be better, more realizable, less talkie, much appreciator to people.
It gave me the proof that I was right in many thoughts while others kept calling me stranger.
You can tame a fox one day, and you shall have the enough strength to show the grown-ups how taming foxes is great!
I dream of being there in African desert one day, I will go to that spot, looking for him. If he comes again I will write you a word, and if not I will never stop looking at the stars and listen to the laughter.
The experience of having the pleasure reading it in six months is different. I was keeping it as having a hidden piece of sweet no to eat it but to know that when life is very bitter, there is something extraordinary sweet you already own, which is a good reason to smile.
It deserves to be kept, reading it chapter by chapter when the surroundings deserve the feeling you will spread. Early mornings; near a window while ice is everywhere outside, and it is only you with a hot cup of coffee. While you are setting alone on the train and the long road is running outside.
I really enjoyed reading it in winter and spring.
Sherouk M. Salah
08.06.13. Leverkusen, Germany
January 9, 2018
I first read it in junior high when it was given to me by a Jesuit mentor and close family friend. In a way, it was my introduction to philosophy. I've read it many times in English and in French and given it as a gift to numerous friends over the years. It's timeless and always fresh.
February 24, 2022
Lần 1 đọc hiểu sơ sơ, lần hai thêm được chút chút, chắc cuốn này phải đọc cỡ chục lần khi mình càng trưởng thành hơn thì mới hiểu hết
November 13, 2024
"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
The Little Prince is a story I always come back to. Every couple of years, I tell myself, "This time, I'm not going to cry." And I fail every single time.
I don't know what it is about this book—a children's book—that destroys my heart and rips it into a million pieces.
As for Letter To a Hostage: Home is not always a place. Sometimes it's a person. And sometimes, it's a person that makes a house more than just a building.
“He will never be here again; neither will he be absent. I have sacrificed his place at my table, as a useless illusion, but in his death he remains my real friend.”
May 2, 2024
El vanidoso: Los vanidosos no tienen oídos más que para alabanzas
El Rey: Hay que exigir a cada uno lo que cada uno pueda dar
El bebedor: Bebo para olvidar mi vergüenza
Business man: Si encuentras un diamante que no es de nadie, es tuyo
El farolero: El único que se ocupa de algo más que de sí mismo
Geógrafo: Nosotros solo anotamos las cosas que duran para siempre
Donde están las persona? Se está un poco solo en el desierto
-También se está solo entre las personas
Solo se ve bien con el corazón, lo esencial es invisible a los ojos
El Rey: Hay que exigir a cada uno lo que cada uno pueda dar
El bebedor: Bebo para olvidar mi vergüenza
Business man: Si encuentras un diamante que no es de nadie, es tuyo
El farolero: El único que se ocupa de algo más que de sí mismo
Geógrafo: Nosotros solo anotamos las cosas que duran para siempre
Donde están las persona? Se está un poco solo en el desierto
-También se está solo entre las personas
Solo se ve bien con el corazón, lo esencial es invisible a los ojos
January 19, 2025
great I’m crying in a carrefour aisle
Read
January 6, 2022A tick off the 2022 TBR list ✓
September 22, 2017
‘One could not die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But in herself she matters more than all of you together, since it is she that I watered; since it is she that I placed under the glass dome; since it is she that I sheltered with the screen; since it is she whose caterpillars I killed (except the two or three we saved up to become butterflies). Since it is she that I listened to, when she complained, or boasted, or when she was simply being silent. Since it is she who is my rose.’
Upon my finishing The Little Prince for the second time, I found it to be of more value compared to the last time I read it.
A pilot crashed into a desert where he thought he was alone at first, alone and hopeless, until a little prince showed up unexpectedly. So sudden that that little prince became someone of a great significance to him by the end of the story.
The Little Prince is an illustrious story that reflects mankind as we are from the perspective of a curious little child. Packed in the form of a space exploration, this novel is a simultaneously wonderful and poignant read.
Upon my finishing The Little Prince for the second time, I found it to be of more value compared to the last time I read it.
A pilot crashed into a desert where he thought he was alone at first, alone and hopeless, until a little prince showed up unexpectedly. So sudden that that little prince became someone of a great significance to him by the end of the story.
The Little Prince is an illustrious story that reflects mankind as we are from the perspective of a curious little child. Packed in the form of a space exploration, this novel is a simultaneously wonderful and poignant read.
December 7, 2015
Actual Rating: 4.5 (Review for The Little Prince only).
When I finished reading The Little Prince I put the book down beside me and paused for a few minutes, just to let myself think everything over. The truly beautiful thing about the book is that it's so straight-forward that for a lot of people it's confusing (especially for 'grown-ups', which kind of brings the whole story full circle). I'm glad I was able to understand it, because if I didn't then I'd be one of those many people that The Little Prince wouldn't understand, and I'd hate to be that person. It uses heavy symbolism to convey various themes of love, loss and much deeper issues, depending on how far you let your imagination go.
The book only loses half a star because it took me awhile to find the rhythm of it and to start to grasp its deeper complexity.
The story was a good reminder to me, a message saying only focus on the things in life that truly matter, you've always known what that is. It's a story that I'll be thinking about for a long time.
When I finished reading The Little Prince I put the book down beside me and paused for a few minutes, just to let myself think everything over. The truly beautiful thing about the book is that it's so straight-forward that for a lot of people it's confusing (especially for 'grown-ups', which kind of brings the whole story full circle). I'm glad I was able to understand it, because if I didn't then I'd be one of those many people that The Little Prince wouldn't understand, and I'd hate to be that person. It uses heavy symbolism to convey various themes of love, loss and much deeper issues, depending on how far you let your imagination go.
The book only loses half a star because it took me awhile to find the rhythm of it and to start to grasp its deeper complexity.
The story was a good reminder to me, a message saying only focus on the things in life that truly matter, you've always known what that is. It's a story that I'll be thinking about for a long time.
December 11, 2016
I just read the Little Prince, Goodreads jumped me to the wrong edition and won't let me change it.
I saw a movie of this years ago, and this book ended up fitting part of a challenge I was doing, so I gave it a read. It's quick, short, and simple, but really kind of charming. A crashed pilot finds a visitor from another world who shares stories of his travels.
It's a simple little story that I enjoyed, and has a kind of magic to it.
I saw a movie of this years ago, and this book ended up fitting part of a challenge I was doing, so I gave it a read. It's quick, short, and simple, but really kind of charming. A crashed pilot finds a visitor from another world who shares stories of his travels.
It's a simple little story that I enjoyed, and has a kind of magic to it.
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