“Good morning,” said the little prince.
“Good morning,” said the merchant.
This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.
Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince.
The merchant said: “Because they save a tremendous amount of time. Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.“
The little prince then asked: “And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?“
The merchant replied: “Anything you like . . .”
“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”
This is a small excerpt from the beautiful novella “The Little Prince” written by the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. “The Little Prince” is a philosophical and allegorical tale that explores themes of innocence, friendship, the loss of childhood wonder, and the challenges of growing up in a complex world.
Here in this short conversation between the merchant and the little prince, the writer captures a very deep truth. “Mind” is a weak tool of man but he has been made to believe that it is with the mind he would be able to emerge as the strongest. He gets trapped in his own narratives. His mind plays with him making his life rather meaningless. “Mind” makes him restless and eventually strips him off even the simple joys of life. Lost in the illusion of self-worth, he is unable to see the world like a child.
The wisdom of the little prince comes from his unadulterated heart that truly appreciates each and every moment of life.