Devo pur sopportare qualche bruco se voglio conoscere le farfalle, sembra che siano così belle... - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Bit by bit, nevertheless, it comes over us that we shall never again hear the laughter of our friend, that this one garden is forever locked against us. And at that moment begins our true mourning, which, though it may not be rending, is yet a little bitter. For nothing, in truth, can replace that companion. Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak.

On a day of burial there is no perspective — for space itself is annihilated. Your dead friend is still a fragmentary being. The day you bury him is a day of chores and crowds, of hands false or true to be shaken, of the immediate cares of mourning. The dead friend will not really die until tomorrow, when silence is round you again. Then he will show himself complete, as he was — to tear himself away, as he was, from the substantial you. Only then will you cry out because of him who is leaving and whom you cannot detain.

"A los mayores les encantan las cifras. Si les hablas de un nuevo amigo tuyo, nunca te preguntarán por lo esencial. Nunca te dirán: "¿Cuál es el timbre de su voz? ¿Cuáles son los juegos que más le gustan? ¿Colecciona mariposas?" Te preguntarán: "¿Qué edad tiene? ¿Cuántos hermanos tiene? ¿Cuánto pesa? ¿Cuánto gana su padre?"
Sólo entonces creerán conocerlo. Si dices a los mayores: "He visto una bonita casa de ladrillos color rosa, con geranios en las ventanas y palomas en el tejado...", no conseguirán imaginarse esa casa. Hay que decirles: "He visto una casa de cien mil francos". Entonces exclaman: "¡Qué fabuloso!