Witnessing various global unravellings, this simple assertion by the wise Saint-Exupery makes one wonder if we will ever learn to be well enough in our skin (as the French put it, ‘bien dans sa peau’) to live in harmony with ourselves, each other and the planet we’ve been given. 

Human anguish is the product of the loss by man of his true identity. 

Deep breath, be happy, look at a flower or butterfly, read a good book, bake a cake, have a cup of tea with someone you like, plant something in the ground (and water it).  Be yourself. 

Source: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras, trans. by Lewis Galantière (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1961), p. 28

Photo credit: Craig Ren at unsplash