Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) was born on this day in Lyon, France. A wartime pilot and poetic soul, he took spiritual steps for humankind through his luminous words and timeless parables.

“It is only with the heart that one can rightly see; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” he wrote in his beloved novella, The Little Prince (1943).

Written during World War II and published a year before his disappearance over the Mediterranean, the 92-page story captures the magic of childhood and the wisdom of wonder. A pilot crashes in the Sahara Desert and meets a golden-haired boy from Asteroid B-612 who teaches him about truth, love, and the invisible threads of friendship.

The book’s simple drawings enhance its tone of innocence. “Love is not just looking at each other,” Saint-Exupéry wrote. “It’s looking in the same direction.” A lyrical philosopher, he searched for beauty not with the eyes, but with the heart.

Like Voltaire before him, he championed the French ideal of human nobility. “One only understands the things that one tames,” he believed—inviting us to slow down, connect, and care deeply.

This seemingly simple book sparkles like stars of wisdom. Translated into over 600 languages, it holds the record as the most translated fiction book globally. With approximately 200 million copies sold, The Little Prince continues to illuminate hearts across generations and cultures.

“A single event,” he wrote, “can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.”

More Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Quotations