I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.

The line frames flying not as thrill-seeking but as a mental and moral liberation. “Tyranny of petty things” suggests the oppressive pull of trivial worries—status, routine irritations, small anxieties—that can dominate consciousness on the ground. To “fly” becomes a metaphor for gaining altitude over the everyday: distance produces perspective, quiet, and a reordering of values. In Saint-Exupéry’s aviation writing, flight often functions this way—an experience that strips life to essentials (skill, responsibility, risk, comradeship) and makes the merely fussy seem absurd. The quote’s significance lies in its claim that freedom is partly a matter of viewpoint: changing one’s vantage can change one’s mind.