Quote 4
“Please—tame me!” he said.
“I want to very much,” the little prince replied. “But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand.”
“One only understands the things that one tames,” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me…” (21.33-5)
Friendship is hard work! It takes time and effort to build trust and to really get to know someone. Do you agree with the fox that most adults have no time for friendship?
Quote 5
“You must be very patient,” replied the fox. “First you will sit down at a little distance from me—like that—in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day…” (21.37)
When the fox is teaching the prince how to tame him, he has to use words at first in order to tell the prince what to do. The prince won’t understand him unless they use words. Yet, during the actual taming, the fox wants the prince to avoid talking at all, because “[w]ords are the source of misunderstandings.” To build up trust and love, words are useless—it’s your actions that count.