916 Quotes by Fernando Pessoa

To be understood is to prostitute oneself

My dreams are a stupid shelter, like an umbrella against lightning.

No one understands anyone else. We are, as the poet said, enisled in the sea of life; between us flows the sea that defines and separates us. However hard one soul struggles to know another soul, he can only judge by what words are spoken - a formless shadow on the floor of his understanding.

I see life as a roadside inn where I have to stay until the coach from the abyss pulls up.

Whoever lives like me doesn’t die: he terminates, wilts, devegetates. The place where he was remains without him being there; the street where he walked remains without him being seen on it; the house where he lived is inhabited by not-him. That’s all, and we call it nothing;

To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.

E questo l'errore centraledell'immaginazione letteraria: essa suppone che gli altri sono noi e che devono sentirsi come noi. (Feltrinelli, Economica Universale Feltrinelli; p.43)

A quien como yo, así, viviendo no sabe tener vida, ¿qué le queda sino, como a mis pocos pares, la renuncia por modo y la contemplación por destino?

Digo-vos: praticai o bem. Porquê? O que ganhais com isso? Nada, não ganhais nada. Nem dinheiro, nem amor, nem respeito, nem talvez paz de espírito. Talvez não ganheis nada disso. Então por que vos digo: Praticai o bem? Porque não ganhais nada com isso. Vale a pena praticá-lo por isto mesmo.