This is a popup for the Japanese version of On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur 'It is only with the heart that one sees rightly', from The Little Prince.

little prince Double negative: 'Only if' and 'must'

The double negative construction can be used both for 'only if' and for 'must'. The parallelism can be quite clearly seen if the two are placed together:

 
'ONLY' EXPRESSED WITH DOUBLE NEGATIVES
A
B
si ne voit pas avec le coeur
'if not look with the heart'
ne peut pas voir bien
'cannot see well'
心で見-
kokoro de mi-
'look with the heart'
-なくちゃ
-nakucha
'-if not'
よく見え-
yoku mie-
'can see well'
-ない
-nai
'-not'
 
'MUST' CONSTRUCTION
A
B
si ne voit pas avec le coeur
'if do not look with the heart'
ça ne va pas
'won't do'
心で見-
kokoro de mi-
'look with the heart'
-なくちゃ
-nakucha
'-if not'
なら-
nara-
'be ok'
いけ-
ike-
'be ok'
-ない
-nai
'-not'

The first sentence means "Can only see well with the heart". The second means: "Must look with the heart".

The only difference between them is in the second clause. The first sentence presents a specific goal, that of 'seeing clearly'. The second sentence presents a vague goal of 'being ok'.

For more information, see the site Things that must be done (or not).

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