--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The important thing is to strive toward a…" description: "\"The important thing is to strive toward a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.\" — Antoin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry-174_concern_the-important-thing-is-to-strive-toward_3158037.png" --- # The important thing is to strive toward a goal which is… ![“The important thing is to strive toward a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.” quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry-174_concern_the-important-thing-is-to-strive-toward_3158037.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry-174_concern_the-important-thing-is-to-strive-toward_3158037.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry-174_concern_the-important-thing-is-to-strive-toward_3158037.png) > “The important thing is to strive toward a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.” [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pursuing unseen, spiritual goals requires inner focus beyond rational thought. **In simple terms:** Seek invisible, spiritual objectives. Key Takeaway Align actions with deeper purpose. Themes spirituality goal setting inner growth vision Mood hopeful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal development - creative projects - leadership decisions Key Concepts purpose intuition long‑term vision Questions to Reflect On - What unseen goal guides you? - How can you nurture spirit over mind? A Different Perspective Spiritual goals can be vague, making measurement hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) ## Related quotes > [“The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/the-important-thing-is-to-strive-towards-a-goal-which-is-not/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [My most visible goal is to do something in nutrition to children in India, and pregnant mothers. Because that would change the mental and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ratan-tata/my-most-visible-goal-is-to-do-something-in-nutrition-to-children-in/) [Ratan Tata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ratan-tata/) > [The more you take a step to strive, the more your goal come closer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandi-tanko/the-more-you-take-a-step-to-strive-the-more-your-goal-come-closer/) [Vandi Tanko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandi-tanko/) > [We strive toward a goal, and whether we achieve it or not is important, but it's not what's most important. What matters is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-jurek/we-strive-toward-a-goal-and-whether-we-achieve-it-or-not-is-important/) [Scott Jurek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-jurek/) > [You are whole body, whole mind, whole spirit, all the time. When you experience all of you at once, anything is possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-stiles/you-are-whole-body-whole-mind-whole-spirit-all-the-time-when-you/) [Tara Stiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-stiles/) > [Mind and spirit together make up that which separates us from the rest of the animal world, that which enables a man to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-hamilton/mind-and-spirit-together-make-up-that-which-separates-us-from-the/) [Edith Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-hamilton/) > [Culture' means a long receptivity to things of the mind and the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-fullerton-gerould/culture-means-a-long-receptivity-to-things-of-the-mind-and-the-spirit/) [Katharine Fullerton Gerould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-fullerton-gerould/) > [Your mind is your spirit; do not seek any other hidden soul inside you! All is in the brain! The depiction of a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/your-mind-is-your-spirit-do-not-seek-any-other-hidden-soul-inside-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“We have two minds. One thinks, the other knows. The mind that knows goes back many lifetimes. This is the mind of the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-hayes/we-have-two-minds-one-thinks-the-other-knows-the-mind-that-knows-goes/) Forrest Hayes > [“And so the mind or spirit is the great opportunist, itself impossible to pin down, take hold of, anywhere; one is tempted to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-so-the-mind-or-spirit-is-the-great-opportunist-itself-impossible/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“that whoever is strong in mind and spirit will have power over them. Anyone who is greatly daring is right in their eyes. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/that-whoever-is-strong-in-mind-and-spirit-will-have-power-over-them/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [I make no distinction between the mind and the spirit, and therefore no distinction between the process of achieving spiritual growth and achieving mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/i-make-no-distinction-between-the-mind-and-the-spirit-and-therefore/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [ When I had this concept \["You're All That"\] that I'm not just a body with a mind, that I'm a spirit being, I'm a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-white/when-i-had-this-concept-you-re-all-that-that-i-m-not-just-a-body-with/) [Paula White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-white/) > [God gave you a mind, a spirit, and a body, and you should take care of all three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fabio-lanzoni/god-gave-you-a-mind-a-spirit-and-a-body-and-you-should-take-care-of/) [Fabio Lanzoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fabio-lanzoni/) > [This means that the mind or spirit is present anywhere, because it is nowhere attached to any particular place. And it can remain present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugen-herrigel/this-means-that-the-mind-or-spirit-is-present-anywhere-because-it-is/) [Eugen Herrigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugen-herrigel/) ## More by Antoine de Saint-Exupery > [“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-want-to-build-a-ship-don-t-drum-up-the-men-to-gather-wood/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Treason implies responsibility for something, control over something, influence upon something, knowledge of something. Treason in our time is a proof of genius. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/treason-implies-responsibility-for-something-control-over-something/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/perfection-is-finally-attained-not-when-there-is-no-longer-anything/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“But for fear of disheartening them, we also spoke to them of disappointments and the bitter taste that rest has after a useless action.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/but-for-fear-of-disheartening-them-we-also-spoke-to-them-of/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“If you come at four in the afternoon, I'll begin to be happy by three.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-come-at-four-in-the-afternoon-i-ll-begin-to-be-happy-by-three/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Once we are bound together to our brothers by a common good that is outside us, then we can breathe. 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You become responsible, forever, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/and-the-fox-said-to-the-little-prince-men-have-forgotten-this-truth/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/and-now-here-is-my-secret-a-very-simple-secret-it-is-only-with-the/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Flying is a man's job and its worries are a man's worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/flying-is-a-man-s-job-and-its-worries-are-a-man-s-worries/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/you-are-not-at-all-like-my-rose-he-said-as-yet-you-are-nothing-no-one/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Loneliness is bred of a mind that has grown earth-bound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/loneliness-is-bred-of-a-mind-that-has-grown-earth-bound/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [“Stretched out before the fire I looked at the glowing fruit and said to myself that men did not know what an orange was.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/stretched-out-before-the-fire-i-looked-at-the-glowing-fruit-and-said/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) [Explore all 719 Antoine de Saint-Exupery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) ## More Concern quotes > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. 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I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [It concerns me when people frame the conversation about equal pay about the entertainment business. I don't want the wage gap issue to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/it-concerns-me-when-people-frame-the-conversation-about-equal-pay/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. 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