“People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Wisdom Wisdom

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“And the fox said to the little prince: men have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”


“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”


“I am looking for friends. What does that mean -- tame?""It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. "It means to establish ties." "To establish ties?" "Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....”


“The little prince went away, to look again at the roses."You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."And the roses were very much embarassed."You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.”


“So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near--Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . ."Yes, that is so," said the fox.But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.Yes, that is so," said the fox.Then it has done you no good at all!"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields.”


“No one has tamed you and you haven't tamed anyone.You're the way my fox was. He was just a fox like a hundred thousand others. But I've made him my friend, and now he's the only fox in the world.”