5 lessons from "The Little Prince" that will make us better people

"The Little Prince", although often presented as "children's literature", deals with themes that are suitable for all ages, such as the meaning of life, love, friendship, and the loss of someone.

The text is a long and profound reflection on the human condition, from which we can draw different teachings that can make us see our life and the way we are living in another light. Here are some of those teachings.

via lamenteesmaravillosa.com

Cesar Vazquez/Youtube

• 1. "The essential is invisible to the eye": Our society tends to make us believe that appearance is all that really matters to be happy. In reality, what really matter are the feelings, the emotions, and all those things that are difficult to perceive with the naked eye, but that need to be felt. 

• 2. "It is much harder to judge oneself than to judge others": Looking at others is much easier than having to look in the mirror and confront yourself. When we learn to know ourselves, we are able to do the same with others and to love and help those in need. 

• 3. "Love is not looking at each other, but looking together in the same direction": Love necessarily implies that there are complicity and sharing between two people. If you are alone or the feeling is not mutual, it makes no sense because love is a path of life that must be undertaken in two, one is the strength of the other and vice versa. 

• 4. "Adults never understand anything by themselves": Experiences make us grow and mature but also increase our mistrust in the world and we experience moods and feelings that are unknown to children, such as anguish and pain. However, being able to keep the veil of illusion typical of children, no matter how bad a situation may be, will help us to make sense of everything that happens to us. 

• 5. "How old is he? How many siblings? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn? Only then do they think they know him": Just as feelings are invisible to the eye, our essence and that of others are also. Appearances do not tell us anything more than what they show and almost never tell the truth. Instead, true beauty must be sought from within us, only in this way will we be able to free ourselves of all the barriers that we raise when interacting with someone we perceive as different.