What do you think?
Rate this book
A Guide for Grown-ups: Essential Wisdom from the Collected Works of Antoine de Saint-Exupry
“One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”
For more than sixty years, this insight from The Little Prince has been quoted in more than 130 languages by fans around the world. Now, for the first time, quotations from the collected works and letters of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry are presented in a charming gift edition. Six chapters--“Happiness,” “Friendship,” “Responsibility,” “Fortitude,” “Love,” and “What Is Essential”--offer inspirational and thought-provoking words about the subjects held most dear by the author. A perfect gift for graduates—or for anyone who wants gentle guidance.
For more than sixty years, this insight from The Little Prince has been quoted in more than 130 languages by fans around the world. Now, for the first time, quotations from the collected works and letters of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry are presented in a charming gift edition. Six chapters--“Happiness,” “Friendship,” “Responsibility,” “Fortitude,” “Love,” and “What Is Essential”--offer inspirational and thought-provoking words about the subjects held most dear by the author. A perfect gift for graduates—or for anyone who wants gentle guidance.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
1,210 books8,219 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
November 18, 2021
Wonderful book filled with wisdom from a wonderful writer - very comforting in this time of turmoil. Books like this are always nice to have around; just to be able to look for a different perspective when when hit that wall that seems to block everything out. Sometimes you just want someone to push that glass in front of you and tell you it really is half full - that helps you understand that you can fill it up the rest of the way.
August 13, 2009
"If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all the millions and millions of stars, that's enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars."
"The tender friendships one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried."
"He is who is different from me does not impoverish me- he enriches me. Our unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves- in Man...For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass."
"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction."
"The tender friendships one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried."
"He is who is different from me does not impoverish me- he enriches me. Our unity is constituted in something higher than ourselves- in Man...For no man seeks to hear his own echo, or to find his reflection in the glass."
"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction."
December 13, 2015
I adore the wisdom in quotes from Antoine de Saint-Exupe`ry author of The Little Prince.
"It's a question of discipline," the little prince told me later on. "When you've finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend to your planet." (46)
"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes." (63)
A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despares overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. (73)
"It's a question of discipline," the little prince told me later on. "When you've finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend to your planet." (46)
"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes." (63)
A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despares overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. (73)
May 6, 2014
I find myself at a spiritual impasse in my life as I'm reading this and I got to say it does help. The only thing is I just wish it was a real guide in the sense that I really want a manual for life. But whatever spiritual journeys, finding yourself, blah blah. Sometimes I just want to run on autopilot while still doing and saying all the right things. That being said this wasn't a bad book and it set me off looking for more books by the author. His death is mysterious by the way... Anyhow it's a good quick fun read.
September 10, 2018
Small and sweet, a perfect companion for my bus ride. Some of my favorite quotes:
"Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak." - Wind, Sand and Stars
"Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas." - Flight to Arras
"To know is not to prove, nor to explain. It is to accede to vision." - Flight to Arras
"Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak." - Wind, Sand and Stars
"Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas." - Flight to Arras
"To know is not to prove, nor to explain. It is to accede to vision." - Flight to Arras
March 8, 2008
This book is a gem. Bits of wisdom gleaned from the works of Exupery on Love, Friendship and more.
I couldn't put it down and would be looking at it write now if I hadn't given it to my mom and ordered myself another copy.
It's expressions of true friendships, long friendships, were so beautiful and true to life. They came the closest to describing how I feel about my oldest and dearest friends.
The thoughts on love were very similar. Exupery could capture the feelings, and put them on the page so you could feel them again and understand them perhaps for the first time.
A beautiful book, everyone should own and treasure.
I couldn't put it down and would be looking at it write now if I hadn't given it to my mom and ordered myself another copy.
It's expressions of true friendships, long friendships, were so beautiful and true to life. They came the closest to describing how I feel about my oldest and dearest friends.
The thoughts on love were very similar. Exupery could capture the feelings, and put them on the page so you could feel them again and understand them perhaps for the first time.
A beautiful book, everyone should own and treasure.
January 2, 2012
A lovely collection of quotes. I have often carried this little book around and meditated on this living philosopher's views of life, friendship, and love.
August 13, 2019
4.3/5
A short collection of quotes by Saint-Exupery on happiness, friendship, love, responsibility, fortitude, and what is essential
A short collection of quotes by Saint-Exupery on happiness, friendship, love, responsibility, fortitude, and what is essential
June 2, 2019
This is a beautifully presented volume of tidbits and quotes from the collected works of Antoine de Saint Exupery, the insights are funny thoughtful and sometimes moving. (Anyone who has read The Little Prince knows how beautiful Antoine de Saint Exupery's writing is).
As there is only really a sentence per page if you try to read this book all at once you miss the significance and insights of some of the quotes, instead this is a great book to have by your bed to read a little of each night.
Although I would recommend this book to anyone, as it is called 'A Guide for Grown-ups' I would particularly recommend that this would make a really great gift for someone celebrating a 'grown-up' birthday.
As there is only really a sentence per page if you try to read this book all at once you miss the significance and insights of some of the quotes, instead this is a great book to have by your bed to read a little of each night.
Although I would recommend this book to anyone, as it is called 'A Guide for Grown-ups' I would particularly recommend that this would make a really great gift for someone celebrating a 'grown-up' birthday.
November 14, 2013
✨Beautiful✨
"The tender friendships one gives up,
on parting, leave their bite on the heart,
but also a curious feeling of a treasure
somewhere buried."
--Southern Mail
"One sees clearly only with the heart.
Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
--The Little Prince
.
December 9, 2014
A very short book, but one full of very deep and wise thoughts. The Little Prince is one of my all-time favorite books, but there are quotes here from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's other books which I have not read. "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
June 25, 2013
I love some of the quotes in this book. Most of my favorites were from The Little Prince, though they are a lot more fun to read inside the book of The Little Prince, instead of out of context. A quick book with some lovely quotes. It would have been nice to have it a bit longer.
October 28, 2015
A quick read over my lunch break at Barnes and Noble, but I did appreciate it and take pictures of some of the quotes to send to my friends and relatives. I think it's a must read if you were a fan of The Little Prince and his other works.
December 30, 2016
I picked this up because I was short on time for my reading challenge but I think this was a great way to end my year. a great collection of sweet and poignant quotes. I was going to reread A Little Prince but then found this on my shelf!
May 16, 2008
I have a place in my heart designated especially for The Little Prince, so this book is automatically a favorite.
December 9, 2008
I absolutely love and connect with most of these quotes/excerpts, and then there are one or two that make me cringe.
June 30, 2010
Nice collection of quotes from all his works. Of course I wanted more from The Little Prince than was given, but you should just read the book if you truly want those quotes.
July 6, 2013
Nicely compiled collection of quotes from across Saint-Exupéry's writings. I'm a sucker for quotes and aphorisms, so this hit the sweet spot for me.
July 23, 2014
Just lovely snippets from a lovely man. Makes you think. Feels honest and true and inspiring to be more and better and truer.
January 25, 2015
This was just lovely. Nice to carry a round in your bag and just read a few every now and again! And the book just looks so cute too.
March 19, 2016
Such a beautiful little book filled with gorgeous quotes by an amazingly talented man. I have learnt so much from such a small book.
December 2, 2015
I love this little book!
December 23, 2015
Beautiful quotes by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A reminder, also, that I need to read his other books.
October 11, 2016
What a wonderful little book! Full of eloquent sunshine, it would make a great keepsake or gift.
May 22, 2020
A beautifull little book of wisdom and inspiration! It has definitely put a smile on my face.
These quotes spoke to me especially
“The seed haunted by the sun never fails to find its way between the stones in the ground”
“One’s suffering dissapears when one lets one self go, when one yields- even to sadness”
These quotes spoke to me especially
“The seed haunted by the sun never fails to find its way between the stones in the ground”
“One’s suffering dissapears when one lets one self go, when one yields- even to sadness”
September 3, 2023
“One’s suffering disappears when one lets oneself go, when one yields - even to sadness.” Southern Mail.
Lessons I wish I’d learned as a child, beautifully crafted and complied into a collection I can reflect on at anytime.
Lessons I wish I’d learned as a child, beautifully crafted and complied into a collection I can reflect on at anytime.
December 31, 2017
A tiny book full of big inspirations.
March 22, 2018
Short, easy, good quotes.
November 8, 2018
This book is beautiful. Anytime I read anything from this amazing man I fall in love once again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews