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A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Pilote de Guerre (1942)

Les pierres du chantier ne sont en vrac qu’en apparence, s’il est, perdu dans le chantier, un homme, serait-il seul, qui pense cathédrale.

Original text (French)

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More quotes by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Your task is not to foresee the future, but to enable it.

Citadelle or The Wisdom of the Sands (1948)

Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures — in this century, as in others, our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together.

Terre des Hommes (1939)

Human drama does not show itself on the surface of life. It is not played out in the visible world, but in the hearts of men.

Terre des Hommes (1939)

It seems to me that those who complain of man's progress confuse ends with means.

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But you want to remember that below the sea of clouds lies eternity.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.