Wednesday, April 11, 2012

the little prince.

so there's this book called the little prince by antoine de saint exupéry that i've had for years but have only made it through the first three pages. several times. i haven't picked it up for a while, but a visit from a friend who mentioned it inspired me. approximately 112 pages in length, it changed my life in a small way.
i want to make it a goal to have something change my life at least once a day.
i wish that everyone could and would read it.
a shortened version of my favorite part. love.

when he meets the fox-
"i cannot play with you," the fox said. "i am not tamed."
"what does that mean- tame?"
"it is an act too often neglected," said the fox. "it means to establish ties."
"to establish ties?'
"just that," said the fox. "to me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. and i have no need of you. and you, on your part, have no need of me. to you, i am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. but if you tame me, then we shall need each other. to me, you will be unique in all the world. to you, i shall be unique in all the world..."
"if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. i shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. and then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? i do not eat bread. wheat is of no use to me. the wheat fields have nothing to say to me. and that is sad. but you have hair that is the color of gold. think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! the grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. and i shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat..."
"what must i do, to tame you?" asked the little prince.
"you must be very patient," replied the fox.
so the little prince tamed the fox. and then the hour of his departure drew near-
"ah," said the fox,"i shall cry."
"it is your own fault," said the little prince. "i never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you..."
"yes, that is so," said the fox.
"but now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.
"yes, that is so," said the fox.
"then it has done you no good at all!"
"it has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields." and then he added:
"go and look again at the roses. you will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. then come back and say goodbye to me, and i will make you a present of a secret."
"goodbye, " said the fox. "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."
"it is the time you have [spent] for your rose that makes your rose so important."


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