Quotes by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

About Antoine de Saint-Exupery:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is best remembered for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) and for his lyrical aviation writings, including Wind, Sand and Stars and Night Flight.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

'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

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

A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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

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

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

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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

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

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

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

To be a man is, precisely, to be responsible.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

No single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born. It would be a bit too easy if we could go about borrowing ready-made souls.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The one thing that matters is the effort.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Of what worth are convictions that bring not suffering?

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

How could there be any question of acquiring or possessing, when the one thing needful for a man is to become - to be at last, and to die in the fullness of his being.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Et maintenant, au coeur de la nuit comme un veilleur, il découvre que la nuit montre l'homme: ces appels, ces lumières, cette inquiétude. Cette simple étoile dans l'ombre: l'isolement d'une maison. L'une s'éteint: c'est une maison qui se ferme s...

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

La terre nous en apprend plus sur nous que tous les livres. Parce qu'elle nous résiste. L'homme se découvre quand il se mesure avec l'obstacle. (Terre des hommes)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Author Bio

  • NameAntoine de Saint-Exupery
  • DescriptionFrench writer and aviator
  • AliasesAntoine de Saint-Exupéry; Antoine de Saint Exupéry
  • BornJune 29, 1900
  • DiedJuly 31, 1944
  • CountryFrance
  • ProfessionAviator; Poet; Novelist; Autobiographer; Journalist; Children's Writer; Essayist; Writer
  • WorksNight Flight
  • AwardsMort Pour La France; Prix Femina; National Book Award; Grand Prix Du Roman De L'Académie Française