The Secret

I cannot help but share the secret of life, as analyzed by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in his book Le Petit Prince, with the rest of the world. The implication by the author is so true to life that one cannot but stop to reflect upon his or her life.

First he writes: " on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur " which literally translates to only the heart can see clearly. Saint-Exupéry suggests that the source of beauty is always something secret and invisible. Most often eyes miss what is important. People on earth lose sight of what they are looking for because they look with their eyes and not with their hearts. He criticises the mentality of humans regarding the fact that it seems as if they can never get enough. They buy 3 cars when a single one could serve them more than comfortably, they run around with more than one partner when they could find what they really want in a single person....the list is unfortunately never - ending.

Then he adds on: " c'est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante " meaning the time spent on your rose is what makes your rose so important. People must discover the true meaning of things for themselves in order for those things to have value, otherwise we will never succeed in understanding the meaning of these things. It is the process of discovery which makes the results worthwhile. Objects, relationships and experiences are rewarding only if we invest time and effort in them.

But one should not stop at that. " Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé " ---> a person is forever responsible for what she or he has tamed. One cannot abandon the values, the love, the meaning and attention that are transmitted to him/her by those who regard him /her as occupying a special role in their life. The lack of this feature is what very often leads to emotional breakdowns, melancholy and disappointment all over the world.


Drawback: tears are the pain you risk by being tamed because not each and every person puts the same amount of time and effort in what he or she has tamed.