The Story of
Relationships, Love, and Growth
Lessons on wisdom of life from The Little Prince
It is the most read and translated book in the world following the Bible. The book I’m referring to is The Little Prince, a classic written by Antoine de Saint Exupéry that has sold over 200 million copies around the world, and translated into around 200 languages. Let’s try starting a conversation with the little prince or princess inside our own hearts after reading this book and we might all realize what is important in life.
Why is it important to form relationships with others?
The little prince met a fox in the desert. The prince who was lonely and sad asked the fox to play with him, but the fox replies that he cannot as he is not tamed yet. The prince does not understand what it means to be tamed and the fox explains that it means to “establish ties.”
“For you I’m only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we’ll need each other. You’ll be the only boy in the world for me and I’ll be the only fox in the world for you.”
As the fox said, establishing ties means to become meaningful to each other through the process of taming one another. This is true for relationships between individuals and within a group. Becoming important to one another in a certain organization or group and making sure no one is left behind is what the fox means by “tame.”
Respect and consideration are essential when it comes to "taming" others. In his poem “Visitor,” Korean poet Hyeonjong Jeong explains why it is so important to show respect and be considerate of others’ feelings. “Having a visitor is truly an extraordinary experience /It is because that person comes with his past, present, and future. / When the person comes, he brings his whole life with him.
As you can see from this poem, establishing ties with someone means to have an impact on each other’s lives. Saint Exupéry explains to us what it means to establish relationships with others through his expression of “taming each other.” Basically, a true relationship, and not a unilateral one, is formed by respecting and being thoughtful toward others.
Are you by any chance going through any sort of conflict in your workplace? If you are, why don’t you just think that you’re going through a process of coming to a compromise, or in other words, "taming" each other? This is because once you view your conflict as a transitional period where you are trying to meet in the middle, you will not give up, even though you are currently not so comfortable. And eventually you will find the wisdom to support each other and fill each other’s gaps.
Am I truly in love?
One day a seed lands on the planet where the little prince lives. The sprout soon grows into a rose, and the prince falls in love with the rose’s beauty. The prince is happy to satisfy the rose’s every need, but the vain greedy creature constantly demands more and more from him. Eventually, the little prince decides to leave his planet. Later on, when he sees a flower garden on Earth with 5,000 roses, he gets disappointed that his rose wasn’t the only rose in the universe, but once again learns the meaning of love after meeting the fox.
“Go look at the roses again. You’ll soon realize that your rose really was one of a kind after all. It is because you poured all your love and time into that particular rose. That’s what makes it so special. You’re responsible for what you have tamed.”
One of the things that we as human beings are blessed with is the ability to love others. When the little prince first met his rose, he thought that it was by sheer luck. The rose even emphasized that she was unique and special. However, the prince changed the way he thought of the rose after seeing her assume a superior attitude, and began to feel unhappy. He wanted to get away from her, although he kept pretending to love her on the surface.
So when he first came to Earth and saw 5,000 roses that looked just like the rose he left behind on his planet, he first thought that this rose had tricked him. However, after learning the meaning of taming and being tamed from the fox, he soon realizes that he himself was also very dear to the rose and that his love and time were still devoted to his rose. The rose he left on his planet became just as important to him as she once was again.
The emotion we call "love" is a delusion that does not assume a particular shape. Therefore, real love starts when you are no longer blinded by love and you begin to love someone dearly for who they are. “When I called her name, she came to me and became a flower.” Like the poem “Flower” by poet Chun-soo Kim suggests, we have to attach a meaning to the substance of love. That way, we can learn to accept the weaknesses or shortcomings of the person you love. If you are currently in love with someone, ask yourself whether you are really in love with everything that makes up that person. Ask yourself, do you love your other half unconditionally regardless of his/her flaws.
How would our lives change if we get rid of prejudice and stubbornness
It is said that astronomers on Earth had caught a glimpse of B612, the Little Prince’s planet before. However, no one believed the astronomer’s announcement as he stood before the crowd in an unfamiliar costume. However, everyone accepted his report when he gave the same announcement 10 years later at a conference, this time dressed in elegant European attire.
The expression that the little prince used most often is “Grown-ups are certainly very strange.” This is because adults tend to judge others based on their looks, are too fond of numbers, and only believe that they see. In short, grown-ups fail to understand the underlying message and meaning because of their biases.
The pilot in the book says that he gave up drawing pictures when he was a little because of adults who couldn’t understand his picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. Grown-ups even thought his picture was worthless. This kind of behavior can be witnessed in condescending grown-ups full of bias and stubbornness who always argue that they’re right. Let’s look back at ourselves and ask ourselves whether we’ve perhaps humiliated others just because they’re different from the rest of us. The same goes when the counterpart is not a young child. Being ignored and belittled is something that children and adults alike find difficult to deal with.
“What makes the desert beautiful is that it hides a well somewhere.”
The good news is that anyone can change and become a better person even after they become adults. This is what the prince told the pilot who was worried about running out of water in the desert. Looking for water in the middle of a desert is, in a sense, similar to looking for the meaning of growth and improvement in our lives. The little prince says that despite the prejudice that the desert is a dangerous and difficult place for people to live in, the fact that it still has something to offer makes the place exceptionally beautiful compared to any other place.
We end up giving up and stopping if we believe that our lives are just as dire as the desert. However, if you consider searching for a well a necessary step towards success, you might be able to push yourself to work harder thinking of the happiness that will soon come your way. The pilot didn’t believe what the prince said at first and even became angry with him, but eventually the two found a well in the middle of the desert. It would not have been possible if it weren’t for the prince’s strong faith and conviction.
The little prince comforts the souls of us grown-ups who are busy going about our daily lives with his innocence. Wouldn’t it be nice to call that little prince or princess inside our hearts and start up a conversation with him/her? That little child will help give a fresh insight into life from the lens of an innocent and honest child that we must all hold near and dear to.
2021.12.01