Terre des hommes
First published 1939 · French · 184 pages
- War
- Adventure
- History and politics
- Biography and memoir
This is the French original of the memoir known in English as Wind, Sand and Stars. Saint-Exupéry recounts his years as an airmail pilot, with episodes of storms, forced landings in the desert and rescues of fellow fliers. He writes with affection of his companions and of the people he met, and he draws from each experience a reflection on courage, brotherhood and responsibility. The title, often rendered as Planet of Men, points to its central belief that we discover ourselves through shared tasks and obstacles.
Quotes
Ch. II : The Men, as quoted in The Lyric Self in Zen and E.E. Cummings (2015) by Michael Buland Burns and Rima Snyder, p. 72
It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.
Ch. IX Barcelona and Madrid (1936)
"I swear that what I went through, no animal would have gone through." This sentence, the noblest ever spoken, this sentence that defines man's place in the universe, that honors him, that re-establishes the true hierarchy, floated back into my thoughts.