So the crew fly on with no thought that they are in motion. Like night over the sea, they are very far from the earth, from towns, from trees. The clock ticks on. The dials, the radio lamps, the various hands and needles go though their invisible alchemy. . . . and when the hour is at hand the pilot may glue his forehead to the window with perfect assurance. Out of oblivion the gold has been smelted: there it gleams in the lights of the airport.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the experience of flying, emphasizing a sense of detachment from the earth and the moment of arrival at a destination.
In this quote, Antoine De Saint-Exupery captures the essence of the flight experience, where the crew remains unaware of their movement through the vastness of the sky, akin to a tranquil night over the sea. The imagery evokes a sense of adventure and the transformation of distant dreams into tangible reality as they approach their destination, highlighting the passage of time and the awe of arriving at an airport, where the once ungraspable becomes real.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire travelers about the beauty of their journey.
Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
Attitude is a paintbrush. It colors everything!
Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.
In those days, I didn't understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away! I ought to have realized the tenderness underlying her silly pretensions. Flowers are so contadictory! But I was too young to know how to love her.
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.
When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed. Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter. The body is an old crock that nobody will miss. I have never known a man to think of himself when dying. Never.
In my day, MI6 - which I called the Circus in the books - stank of wartime nostalgia. People were defined by secret cachet: one man did something absolutely extraordinary in Norway; another was the darling of the French Resistance. We didn't even show passes to go in and out of the building.
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison.
People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking.
He comes into the world God knows how, walks on the water, gets out of his grave and goes up off the Hill of Howth. What drivel is this?
A person never knows their own true face. Everybody thinks that the phoney, posed social mask they wear is their real face.
If peace is equated simply with the absence of war, it can become abject pacifism that turns the world over to the most ruthless.
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