Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Quotes

1900–1944 France

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944) was a French writer, poet and aviator.

France
Journalists
Memoirists
Novelists
Photographers

Also known as: Antoine de Saint Exupery, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Saint Exupery, Antoine de, Saint Exupéry, Antoine de, Saint-Exupéry

Random Antoine de Saint-Exupéry quote

44 quotes

If you wish to build a ship, do not divide the men into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea.

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If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

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A goal without a plan is just a wish.
The earliest appearance yet located of this statement is in 50 Ways to Lose Ten Pounds (1995) by Joan Horbiak, p. 95, where it is quoted as an anonymous proverb. It seems to have circulated as such for a few years before it began to be attributed to Saint Exupéry around 2007.

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If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men and women to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
These appear to be loose paraphrases of this passage from Saint-Exupéry's Citadelle (1948)
One will weave the canvas; another will fell a tree by the light of his ax. Yet another will forge nails, and there will be others who observe the stars to learn how to navigate. And yet all will be as one. Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky. It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a community of love.

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Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.