# Did Antoine de St. Exupéry write this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555 "2013-01-27T20:17:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/1 "2013-01-27T20:17:34Z")
For a long time, my signature read: _I must leave this planet, if only for an hour._ I attributed this to Antoine de St. Exupéry, and I was _sure_ I read it in _Wartime Writings_; but last time I skimmed the book, I was unable to find it. A google search turns up old posts where I use it as my signature, and someone else that was using it for her signature. I can’t find an attribution. Can someone verify that ‘St. Ex’ wrote this; and if so, where? Or else, can someone tell me who did write it? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/2 "2013-01-27T20:50:06Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/3 "2013-01-28T03:57:12Z")
I thought it was from _The Little Prince._ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/4 "2013-01-28T04:08:19Z")
I recall checking a while back, and didn’t find it in _The Little Prince_. I’ve just done a ‘find’ on a [.pdf document](http://cs.swan.ac.uk/~cswill/The_little_prince.pdf) and the phrase does not turn up there. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/5 "2013-01-28T06:15:20Z")
I found this in a light-hearted story about a balloon ride: [Bentley's Miscellany - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=LXEAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA528&dq=planet+%22if+only+for+an+hour.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zRUGUf73FcuMyAGak4C4Bg&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=planet%20%22if%20only%20for%20an%20hour.%22&f=false) > [@](#): > > I would take a flight, if only for an hour, from this grovelling world, and though I might be _in the clouds_, must needs enjoy, during the time, at least a few _elevated_ ideas. from Bentley’s Miscellany, Volume 30 By Charles Dickens, William Harrison Ainsworth, Albert Smith ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/6 "2013-01-28T20:25:57Z")
Close, but I’m sure I read it as I quoted – at least the leaving the planet part. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/7 "2013-01-29T05:55:32Z")
I’m looking for a cite – I remember the line, but I’m thinking it was, “I must leave this earth” – but I’m not finding that either. In the meantime, let me recommend a fine somewhat related movie available streaming on Netflix. It’s about Sigfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, famed WWI poets, and how Sassoon was “treated” once he began speaking out against the war. It’s called _Behind the Lines_. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/8 "2013-01-29T06:21:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Close, but I’m sure I read it as I quoted – at least the leaving the planet part. When I look at past recollections of these things, it is clear to me that our minds just jumbles or simplifies what was seen, heard or read, there are also cases where nice lines are turned into memorable ones by clarifying a quote by adding more context or better words. It is IMHO like “Play it again Sam”, never mentioned in the movie Casablanca, but it is more memorable than “Play it!” Or “Play it Sam”, what is missing is that bit of context that makes it more memorable. I see then: “I would take a flight, if only for an hour, from this grovelling world” As a likely origin. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/9 "2013-01-29T07:12:07Z")
I dunno about you, but I think my memory was garbling the poem [High Flight](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gillespie_Magee,_Jr.#.22High_Flight.22) by John Gillespie Magee. > [@](#): > > Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth > And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; > … > > The high untrespassed sanctity of space, > > - Put out my hand, and touched the face of God ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/10 "2013-01-29T17:45:57Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > When I look at past recollections of these things, it is clear to me that our minds just jumbles or simplifies what was seen, heard or read, there are also cases where nice lines are turned into memorable ones by clarifying a quote by adding more context or better words. True. I was positive I remembered some lyrics correctly a couple of years ago. I was close, but not exact. The thing of it is, it is the ‘I must leave this planet’ that made the impression on me. Could I be misremembering? Certainly. But I’m sure that was it. As sure as I was with those lyrics. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/11 "2013-01-29T23:53:41Z")
I know it from your sig line. Maybe it’s a line _inspired by_ The Little Prince. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/12 "2013-01-30T00:00:19Z")
Well if I made it up myself, it’s a good one! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/13 "2013-01-30T04:45:19Z")
I just scanned through _The Little Prince_, and didn’t find it either. That said, it sounds awfully like it \*should \*be in _The Little Prince_, with its abundant planets and abundant comings and goings. Maybe it’s from the apocrypha. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/14 "2013-01-30T06:25:24Z")
[Maybe it was Gherman Titov.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_2) Sorry, it was the only flight I could find that came close to being an hour long. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/15 "2013-01-30T21:13:50Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I thought it was from _The Little Prince._ What, there was something else by the author that anybody remembers??😕 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antoine-de-st-exupery-write-this/648555/16 "2013-01-30T21:16:53Z")
I always remember the Magee line as “I slapped the surly face of God,” which I know is wrong, but I like my version better.