Quote 19
“And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water.”
“Yes, that is true,” I said.
And the little prince added:
“But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart…” (25.16-19)
Most people are foolish, it seems. They go through life searching for something. And what is that thing? Well, the prince explains that this something “could be found in one single rose, or in a little water.” And a rose or some water is available anywhere. They are too available, almost, and so don’t seem special enough.
So, when people do see those things with their eyes, they “are blind.” The prince explains further that if people could look at these things “with the[ir] heart[s],” then they would be content and would have found what they were looking for. A piece of innocent wisdom from the little prince!
Quote 20
“The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her… I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! […]” (8.27)
The prince admits he should’ve worked harder to understand and get to know his flower. She made it hard for him to know her or see the real her. He looked at the obvious and didn’t see what really mattered. If he’d looked harder, and persisted, then he would’ve gotten to know her better.
Quote 21
“I wonder,” he said, “whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again… Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!” (17.11)
It’s hard to figure out exactly why the stars are in the sky, isn’t it? That’s one of the great universal mysteries. The prince gives us an intriguing reason for them here—you can follow the stars to find your way back home.