Quote collection
358 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"The strong are strengthened by reverses; the trouble is that the true meaning of events scores next to nothing in the match we play with men. Appearances decide our gains or losses and the points are trumpery. And a mere semblance of defeat may hopelessly checkmate us."
"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored."
"It is not for us to forecast the future, but to shape it."
"If you want to build a ship, teach the men to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
"Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something molded."
"What value has compassion that does not take its object in its arms?"
"Sometimes we behave as though there was something more important than life. But what?"
"Friendship is born from an identity of spiritual goals - from common navigation toward a star."
"Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies."
"What he had yearned to embrace was not the flesh but a down spirit, a spark, the impalpable angel that inhabits the flesh."
"To be a man is, precisely, to be responsible."
"Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him."
"We are prudent people. We are afraid to let go of our petty reality in order to grasp at a great shadow."
"Sorrow is one of the vibrations that prove the fact of living."
"To be a man is, precisely, to be responsible. It is to feel shame at the sight of what seems to be unmerited misery. It is to take pride in a victory won by one's comrades. It is to feel, when setting one's stone, that one is contributing to the building of the world."
"You know you've achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away."
"A pilot's business is with the wind, and with the stars, with night, with sand, with the sea. He strives to outwit the forces of nature. He stares with expectancy for the coming of the dawn the way a gardener awaits the coming of spring. He looks forward to port as a promised land, and truth for him is what lives in the stars."
"I am who I am and I have the need to be."
"A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories."
"I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence!' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man - he is a mushroom!"