On 17 March, a new exhibition, The Little Prince: Books, Collections and Cross-Cultural Dialogues, will open at the Thammasat Museum of Anthropology at the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University Rangsit Campus, 99 Moo 18, Khlong Nueng Khlong Luang Pathum Thani. The Thammasat Museum of Anthropology collects artefacts related to fine arts, culture and archaeology. The exhibit will be on view through August 2020.

As all TU students know, The Little Prince is a novella by French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The TU Library owns a number of editions of The Little Prince in translations in English and Thai, as well as the original French and other publications about Saint-Exupéry.

A novella is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Some publishers describe a novella as containing between 15,000 and 40,000 words, although there are different opinions about the exact word count. The TU Library owns many examples of novellas and books analysing them.  

The Little Prince was first published in English and French in the United States of America during the Second World War. It is about a young prince who visits different planets in space, including the Earth, and discusses such themes of loneliness, friendship, love, and loss.

It is estimated that The Little Prince has sold about 140 million copies in different editions around the world. It has been translated into 300 languages and dialects, and there are many film, television, and stage adaptations.

Here are some familiar quotes from The Little Prince:

• Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
• One should never listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance.
• Language is the source of misunderstandings.
• Here is my secret. It is very simple: one sees well only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.
• Only children know what they are looking for.
• “What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well.”

From other books by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, some of which are in the collection of the TU Library or are available to TU students through the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service:

• Even our misfortunes are a part of our belongings

Vol de Nuit (1931) (translated into English as Night Flight)

• Every nation is selfish and every nation considers its selfishness sacred.

Letter to an American (1944)

• Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered: it is something molded. These prison walls that this age of trade has built up round us, we can break down. We can still run free, call to our comrades, and marvel to hear once more, in response to our call, the impassioned chant of the human voice… No man can draw a free breath who does not share with other men a common and disinterested ideal. Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. There is no comradeship except through union in the same high effort. Even in our age of material well-being this must be so, else how should we explain the happiness we feel in sharing our last crust with others in the desert? No sociologist’s textbook can prevail against this fact. Every pilot who has flown to the rescue of a comrade in distress knows that all joys are vain in comparison with this one. And this, it may be, is the reason why the world today is tumbling about our ears. It is precisely because this sort of fulfilment is promised each of us by his religion, that men are inflamed today. All of us, in words that contradict each other, express at bottom the same exalted impulse. What sets us against one another is not our aims — they all come to the same thing — but our methods, which are the fruit of our varied reasoning.

Terre des hommes (Land of People), a 1939 philosophical memoir.

Asia and The Little Prince

The Little Prince is very much appreciated in China, where there have reportedly been over  70 translations of the novella into the Chinese language.

The Antoine de Saint Exupéry Youth Foundation, named after the author, has participated in charitable projects in Thailand.

As its website notes,

Too many young people in this world grow up in difficult, often hostile environments, where they are confronted daily with conflicts up and into adulthood.

Faced with our changing society, we believe it is necessary to show young people the need to support each other, have a sense of responsibility to one another, and to engage as committed citizens.

We want to give them practical support by helping them build their own future and encourage them to take an active part in society.

We believe that any help given to the youth of today is also a service to mankind in general in all its cultural diversity.

• Helping them to become responsible citizens

The work of the Foundation is based on the humanist values of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – universally shared across the planet.

It relies on a vast international charity network which already carries out numerous local projects representing these values.

• Our founding values

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry inspires with his words and actions. They are relevant to all generations, particularly to the youth of today who are tomorrow’s citizens. His exemplary values can be seen in his writing and his endeavors: responsibility, hard work, unity, willingness to share and the respect for others.

Humanism constitutes the foundation of his thoughts:man must be at the centre of our focus.

Commitment towards others, through the duties of each, gives a meaning to human existence. These values offer guidelines for future adults on their journey to becoming responsible members of society.

• Our Worldwide Action Network

The Saint-Exupéry international network regroups hundreds of active members, many of whom are volunteers.They are often connected to the world of education, business and economics.

They have gathered year after year around the emblematic figure of “St-Ex” and his humanist beliefs.

For the most part, they have developed specific concrete projects either through the creation of local charities or working with public institutions.

This network spans nearly 30 countries across all continents.

In 2016, The Antoine de Saint Exupéry Youth Foundation, partnered with International Watch Company (IWC) Schaffhausen to sponsor a new educational kitchen garden and multimedia laboratory with computers, photo and video cameras, books and manuals at the Hospitality & Catering Training Centre (HCTC) in Mae Sot in northwest Thailand.

These facilities were meant to provide underprivileged young Thais, mainly from the minority Karen population, with professional training needed to earn a living in the hospitality sector in Thailand. The funds used were earned by selling a newly designed IWC “Le Petit Prince” Edition Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph in red gold at an auction in Geneva in November 2015.

As part of the ceremonies, a statue of the Little Prince was unveiled at HCTC in Mae Sot.

Each year, HCTC offers about 30 young people the opportunity to learn trades from cooking to accommodation and reception to waiting as part of a two-year course. Each student completes two internships and receive training in life skills.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)