All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travellers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all the stars are silent. You--you alone--will have the stars as no one else has them--
Interpretation
The stars symbolize different things to different people based on their experiences and perspectives.
In this quote, Antoine De Saint-Exupery emphasizes the subjective nature of perception and meaning, illustrating how individuals interpret the same elements of life—represented by 'stars'—according to their unique journeys and aspirations. This suggests that while everyone may have access to the same external truths, their significance can vary vastly, shaped by one’s personal experiences, desires, and goals.
In practice
During a graduation speech, to inspire students about their unique paths in life.
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.
Attitude is a paintbrush. It colors everything!
Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.
In those days, I didn't understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away! I ought to have realized the tenderness underlying her silly pretensions. Flowers are so contadictory! But I was too young to know how to love her.
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.
When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed. Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter. The body is an old crock that nobody will miss. I have never known a man to think of himself when dying. Never.
Nothingness cannot be defined; the softest thing cannot be snapped.
Very few people really care about freedom, about liberty, about the truth, very few. Very few people have guts, the kind of guts on which a real democracy has to depend. Without people with that sort of guts a free society dies or cannot be born.
We must judge of a form of government by it's general tendency, not by happy accidents
All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA.
There can't be a pure myth, especially when the myth has been handed down in the oral tradition. As the stories are told, they change. If the stories don't change they just die.
The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not because of the designer, but because of politics.
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