Quote 1
“Please—tame me!” he said.
“I want to very much,” the little prince replied. “But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand.”
“One only understands the things that one tames,” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me…” (21.33-5)
The prince is in such a hurry to find “friends to discover” and “things to understand” that he almost misses making friends with someone right under his nose. Whoops. The fox encourages the prince to realize that you can’t just order a friend and have one appear. Friendship is something that has to be worked at.
Quote 2
“It has done me good,” said the fox, “Because of the colour of the wheat fields.” And then he added:
“Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret.” (21.49-50)
At this point in the story, the fox knows truths that the prince hasn’t realized yet. The fox is on a higher level of understanding. But the fox is a sharer, and he wants the prince to know what he knows. So, he gives the prince instructions. Basically, the prince should reexamine what he’s seen, based on what he now knows. Then he, like the fox, will have a better understanding of what really matters.
Quote 3
So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near—
“Ah,” said the fox, “I shall cry.”
“It is your own fault,” said the little prince. “I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you…”
“Yes, that is so,” said the fox. (21.42-5)
It’s because the prince has tamed the fox that leaving is so difficult. Even though the fox “wanted” to be tamed, and the prince wanted to make a new friend, they didn’t take into account what would happen when it would be time to say goodbye. It’s like the worst ending to summer camp ever.