Grown-ups love figures. When you talk of a new friend, they never ask questions about essential matters. They never say to you: "What does his voice sound like? What games does he prefer? Does he collect butterflies?" They ask you: "How old is he? How many brothers does he have? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father earn?" It is only then that they feel they know him. If you had mentioned to grown-ups: "I've seen a beautiful house with pink bricks, with geraniums on the window sills and doves on the roof..." they would not be able to imagine such a house. You have to say to them: "I saw a house worth £100,000." Then they would exclaim: "Oh! How lovely."
Source: de Saint-Exupery, Antoine (1995). Wordsworth Editions Ltd. Pages 21-22.
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