Celebrated author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900 – 1944), also wrote other, less known, but equally valuable works that captivate with their philosophy of life. The famous quote from The Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” is confirmed in the works such as Night Flight, Wind, Sand and Stars, Southern Mail and Land of Men. As a war and test pilot by profession, Saint-Exupéry experienced many accidents during flights, the loss of colleagues, and encounters with death. These experiences awakened in him a seeker of meaning in existence, friendship, human relationships, truth, and humane values.
In the book Land of Men, in seemingly different but interconnected stories, Saint-Exupéry presents his adventures, describes the experiences of his comrades, their interconnectedness and friendship, his own experiences and reflections on life and destiny during night flights under the stars and during the day above the clouds.
How to boldly move forward after the plane crashes in the desert, without compass or hope? Where can one survive for a maximum of nineteen hours? Where can one find an unlimited source from which to draw strength?
The author himself wrote about his profession and life: I am happy in my profession. (…) I have no regrets. I took a risk and lost. (…) It’s not about filling life with dangers. This formula is pretentious. I don’t like bullfighters. I don’t like danger. I know what I love. Life.
“A man discovers himself in the struggle against obstacles. But, in order to reach this realization, he needs tools. He needs a plane, he needs a plow. The peasant slowly snatches a few secrets from nature through hard work, and the truth he discovers is universal.”
“Storms, fog, and snow will sometimes give you problems. In those moments, think of all those who have experienced it before you and simply say to yourself: what others have accomplished, can always be accomplished.”
“And truly, nothing will ever replace a lost friend. Because old friends cannot be created. Nothing is worth as much as the precious treasure of shared memories, memories of so many difficult times.” those moments we shared together, the countless arguments, the many reconciliations, the heartfelt outbursts. Such friendships cannot be rebuilt. If we plant an oak tree, we cannot hope to take shelter under its leaves anytime soon.”
“To encompass the world today, we use a language that was established for yesterday’s world. And so it seems that the past life better suits our nature, simply because it better suits our language. Every progress has pushed us further away from the habits we had just acquired, and we are actually refugees who have not yet established a new homeland.”
Contrary to this transformed desert, I remember the games of my youth, the dark and golden garden, which we populated with gods, an infinite kingdom built on that never fully known, never fully explored square kilometer.
We created a closed civilization where every step had a taste, where things made sense, a sense that was not allowed in any other. What a feeling that was. “Tane, when we become humans and live by different laws, from the park full of the shadows of childhood, magical, icy, hot, where now, when we return there, with a kind of despair we pass from the outside next to the wall, along a small wall of gray stone, marveling at finding one province closed off so tightly, which meant infinity to us, and realizing that we will never return to that infinity again, because we would have to return to the game, not to the park.”
“The greatness of vocation, perhaps above all, lies in uniting people: because there is only one true luxury, and that is human relationships. By only working for material goods, we ourselves build our prison. We isolate ourselves in solitude, with our money turning to ashes, bringing nothing that is worth living.”
“To be a human, that is precisely to be responsible. That means being ashamed in front of poverty, which seems to depend not on itself. That means being proud of the victory achieved by comrades. That means feeling, by setting our stone.” “Let us participate in building the world.”
“We breathe only when we are connected with our brothers through a common purpose, which is located beyond ourselves, and experience shows us that loving does not mean looking at each other, but looking together in the same direction. Comrades only exist when they unite in the same ascent, towards the same summit where they are found.”
“When we become aware of our role, even the most humble, only then will we be happy. Only then will we be able to live in peace and die in peace, because what gives meaning to life also gives meaning to death.”