5 Lessons on Isolation and Restraint from the Little Prince

Adolfo Ramírez Corona
9 min readMay 1, 2020

How to find wisdom and happiness in times of quarantine and loneliness.

Illustration by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Public Domain)
Illustrations by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Public Domain)

“So I lived my life alone, without anyone that I could really talk to, until I had an accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara, six years ago. Something was broken in my engine. And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers, I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone.”

As any classic literary book, there are several layers in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, but without doubt, the main themes along with the story of the narrator and the little prince, are isolation and loneliness. In real life, Saint-Exupéry survived an air crash in the desert of Sahara and lived in isolation in the company of his co-pilot for four days until they were rescued. Although a fantasy and children’s book, The Little Prince is deep-rooted in the real experience of the author.

In an age where any gadget or app appears to fill the void in our lives, this little book reminds us that happiness is not about products or possessions but experiences. And to live experiences you don’t have to go far away. You

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Adolfo Ramírez Corona

Author, psychotherapist, coach—Human behavior, UX, media & audiences—Father, husband, meditator—Courses & coaching: antifragilewriting.com—More adolforismos.com