The second book about leaving that I read was Antoine de Saint Exupery's The Little Prince. This book, although a seemingly innocent children's book, is full of some of the most beautiful and truthful ideas that any adult would do good to live by.
There are plenty of morals and truths in this book that really make you think about life in general, the meaning of it and how one can live it properly, but the most famous truth, and probably the one that sticks with me the most, is probably the fox's idea of taming and being tamed.
The fox's definition of "to tame" is "to establish ties." The fox explains to the prince that he is a fox, just like the thousands of other foxes in the world, while the prince is a boy, just like the thousands of other boys in the world. They are not unique in any way and do not mean anything special to one another. However, if the prince and the fox were to tame each other, they would need each other. They would be unique to each other and it would mean everything.
To the fox, life has been monotonous. It is the same schedule every day, every week. But if the prince chooses to tame the fox, the fox will respond to the prince's steps in a way that he does no other. When the prince comes to visit, the fox will be happy. There is a huge wheat field nearby which the fox has no use for, but if the prince tames the fox, the wheat will remind the fox of the prince's golden hair, and the fox will love to watch the wind blowing in the wheat.
The fox continues in saying, "One only understands the things that he tames." He explains that everything can now be bought in shops- but not friendship. Taming is the only way to make friends.
The most beautiful part of the fox's story comes after he has already been tamed. The fox says that he is going to cry because the prince must leave. The prince says, "Then it has done you no good!" But from now on, the color of the wheat fields will mean everything to the fox. So it has done him all the good in the world.
As bittersweet as this message is, it really is one of the most true in the world. Life changes, people change, and people go. But no matter how different a person is now from who they were before or how far away they are, you will always love them and they will always love you. Even after that person has completely changed and left you forever, you'll remember the experience of being their friend and loving them completely. And so will they.
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