Excerpt from “The Little Prince” by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince went to look at the roses again.

“You’re not at all like my rose.  You’re nothing at all yet,” he told them.  “No one has tamed you and you haven’t tamed anyone.  You’re the way my fox was.  He was just a fox like a hundred thousand others.  But I’ve made him my friend, and now he’s the only fox in all the world.”

And the roses were humbled.

You’re lovely, but you’re empty,” he went on.  One couldn’t die for you.  Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you.  But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered.  Since she’s the one I put under glass.  Since she’s the one I sheltered behind a screen.  Since she’s the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three for butterflies).  Since she’s the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all.  Since she’s my rose.”

And he went back to the fox.

“Good-bye,” he said.

“Goodbye,” said the fox.  Here is my secret.  It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart.  Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

“Anything essential is invisible to the eyes,” the little prince repeated, in order to remember.

“It’s the time you spend on your rose that makes your rose so important.”

“It’s the time I spent on my rose…,” the little prince repeated, in order to remember.

“People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said.  “But you mustn’t forget it.  You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed.  You’re responsible for your rose…”

“I’m responsible for my rose…,” the little prince repeated, in order to remember.

 

~From the book “The Little Prince”

~ by cjt on February 14, 2009.