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94 Inspirational Quotes By Fernando Pessoa, The Author Of The Book Of Disquiet

Famous As: Portuguese Modernist Poet and Author of 'Mensagem' and 'The Book of Disquiet'
Born On: June 13, 1888
Died On: November 30, 1935
Born In: Lisbon, Portugal
Died At Age: 47

Fernando Pessoa was one of the most powerful figures of the Portuguese literary world who significantly contributed to Portuguese literature of the 20th century. He was a poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher. His expansive fictional journal was not just belted out under his own name but under seventy-five other pseudonyms that he created for his works. Pessoa preferred calling them heteronyms as he believed that the word pseudonym did not capture the true essence or independent intellectual life of the names. Much unlike other notable writers who used literary personas, Pessoa gave his heteronyms a full life separate from his own, assigning each persona’s psychology, aesthetics, and politics. Coming to Pessoa’s works, during his lifetime, most of Pessoa’s considerable creative output appeared only in journals, and he published just three collections of poetry in English, ‘Antinous’, ‘Sonnets’ and ‘English Poems’. Other than this, he came up with one collection in Portuguese titled, ‘Mensagem’. However, Pessoa’s brilliance as a writer can be felt in his quotes that touch various aspects of life, such as happiness, contentment, failure, solitude, yearning, hope, regret, dreams, living, and so on. Explore this section and find out some of the most famous quotes by Fernando Pessoa.   

Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.

Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.

Fernando Pessoa
No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it

No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it

Fernando Pessoa
My past is everything I failed to be.

My past is everything I failed to be.

Fernando Pessoa
There are ships sailing to many ports, but not a single one goes where life is not painful.

There are ships sailing to many ports, but not a single one goes where life is not painful.

Fernando Pessoa
I'd woken up early, and I took a long time getting ready to exist.

I'd woken up early, and I took a long time getting ready to exist.

Fernando Pessoa
We never love anyone. What we love is the idea we have of someone. It's our own concept—our own selves—that we love.

We never love anyone. What we love is the idea we have of someone. It's our own concept—our own selves—that we love.

Fernando Pessoa
I've always rejected being understood. To be understood is to prostitute oneself. I prefer to be taken seriously for what I'm not, remaining humanly unknown, with naturalness and all due respect

I've always rejected being understood. To be understood is to prostitute oneself. I prefer to be taken seriously for what I'm not, remaining humanly unknown, with naturalness and all due respect

Fernando Pessoa
In order to understand, I destroyed myself.

In order to understand, I destroyed myself.

Fernando Pessoa
I am nothing.
I'll never be anything.
I couldn't want to be something.
Apart from that, I have in me all the dreams in the world.

I am nothing. I'll never be anything. I couldn't want to be something. Apart from that, I have in me all the dreams in the world.

Fernando Pessoa
My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.

My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.

Fernando Pessoa
I feel as if I'm always on the verge of waking up.

I feel as if I'm always on the verge of waking up.

Fernando Pessoa
I wasn’t meant for reality, but life came and found me.

I wasn’t meant for reality, but life came and found me.

Fernando Pessoa
I bear the wounds of all the battles I avoided.

I bear the wounds of all the battles I avoided.

Fernando Pessoa
The value of things is not the time they last, but the intensity with which they occur. That is why there are unforgettable moments and unique people!

The value of things is not the time they last, but the intensity with which they occur. That is why there are unforgettable moments and unique people!

Fernando Pessoa
If I write what I feel, it's to reduce the fever of feeling. What I confess is unimportant, because everything is unimportant.

If I write what I feel, it's to reduce the fever of feeling. What I confess is unimportant, because everything is unimportant.

Fernando Pessoa
I've never done anything but dream. This, and this alone, has been the meaning of my life. My only real concern has been my inner life.

I've never done anything but dream. This, and this alone, has been the meaning of my life. My only real concern has been my inner life.

Fernando Pessoa
Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates.

Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates.

Fernando Pessoa
We worship perfection because we can't have it; if we had it, we would reject it. Perfection is inhuman, because humanity is imperfect.

We worship perfection because we can't have it; if we had it, we would reject it. Perfection is inhuman, because humanity is imperfect.

Fernando Pessoa
To have opinions is to sell out to youself. To have no opinions is to exist. To have every opinion is to be a poet.

To have opinions is to sell out to youself. To have no opinions is to exist. To have every opinion is to be a poet.

Fernando Pessoa
If after I die, people want to write my biography, there is nothing simpler. They only need two dates: the date of my birth and the date of my death. Between one and another, every day is mine.

If after I die, people want to write my biography, there is nothing simpler. They only need two dates: the date of my birth and the date of my death. Between one and another, every day is mine.

Fernando Pessoa
To know nothing about yourself is to live. To know yourself badly is to think.

To know nothing about yourself is to live. To know yourself badly is to think.

Fernando Pessoa
I'm sick of everything, and of the everythingness of everything.

I'm sick of everything, and of the everythingness of everything.

Fernando Pessoa
Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!

Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!

Fernando Pessoa
But I am not perfect in my way of putting things
Because I lack the divine simplicity
Of being only what I appear to be.

But I am not perfect in my way of putting things Because I lack the divine simplicity Of being only what I appear to be.

Fernando Pessoa
I’m losing my taste for everything, including even my taste for finding everything tasteless.

I’m losing my taste for everything, including even my taste for finding everything tasteless.

Fernando Pessoa
The essence of what I desire is simply this: to sleep away life.

The essence of what I desire is simply this: to sleep away life.

Fernando Pessoa
Friends: not one. Just a few acquaintances who imagine they feel something for me and who might be sorry if a train ran over me and the funeral was on a rainy day.

Friends: not one. Just a few acquaintances who imagine they feel something for me and who might be sorry if a train ran over me and the funeral was on a rainy day.

Fernando Pessoa
Life is what we make of it. Travel is the traveler. What we see isn't what we see but what we are.

Life is what we make of it. Travel is the traveler. What we see isn't what we see but what we are.

Fernando Pessoa
The inventor of the mirror poisoned the human heart.

The inventor of the mirror poisoned the human heart.

Fernando Pessoa
We are two abysses - a well staring at the sky.

We are two abysses - a well staring at the sky.

Fernando Pessoa
I don't know what I feel or what I want to feel. I don't know what to think or what I am.

I don't know what I feel or what I want to feel. I don't know what to think or what I am.

Fernando Pessoa
...the painful intensity of my sensations, even when they're happy ones; the blissful intensity of my sensations, even when they're sad.

...the painful intensity of my sensations, even when they're happy ones; the blissful intensity of my sensations, even when they're sad.

Fernando Pessoa
To be understood is to prostitute oneself

To be understood is to prostitute oneself

Fernando Pessoa
Having never discovered qualities in myself that might attract someone else, I could never believe that anyone felt attracted to me.

Having never discovered qualities in myself that might attract someone else, I could never believe that anyone felt attracted to me.

Fernando Pessoa
But do we really live? To live without knowing what life is - is that living?

But do we really live? To live without knowing what life is - is that living?

Fernando Pessoa
I carry my awareness of defeat like a banner of victory.

I carry my awareness of defeat like a banner of victory.

Fernando Pessoa
There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule that doesn’t exist.

There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule that doesn’t exist.

Fernando Pessoa
Be what I think? But I think of being so many things!

Be what I think? But I think of being so many things!

Fernando Pessoa
Every gesture is a revolutionary act.

Every gesture is a revolutionary act.

Fernando Pessoa
My soul is impatient with itself, as with a bothersome child; its restlessness keeps growing and is forever the same. Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.

My soul is impatient with itself, as with a bothersome child; its restlessness keeps growing and is forever the same. Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.

Fernando Pessoa
Whether or not they exist we are slaves to our gods.

Whether or not they exist we are slaves to our gods.

Fernando Pessoa
I sometimes think that I enjoy suffering. But the truth is I would prefer something else.

I sometimes think that I enjoy suffering. But the truth is I would prefer something else.

Fernando Pessoa
And, like the great damned souls, I shall always feel that thinking is worth more than living.

And, like the great damned souls, I shall always feel that thinking is worth more than living.

Fernando Pessoa
Lord, may the pain be ours, And the weakness that it brings, But at least give us the strength, Of not showing it to anyone!

Lord, may the pain be ours, And the weakness that it brings, But at least give us the strength, Of not showing it to anyone!

Fernando Pessoa
The unnatural and the strange have a perfume of their own

The unnatural and the strange have a perfume of their own

Fernando Pessoa
Inch by inch I conquered the inner terrain I was born with. Bit by bit I reclaimed the swamp in which I'd languished. I gave birth to my infinite being, but I had to wrench myself out of me with forceps.

Inch by inch I conquered the inner terrain I was born with. Bit by bit I reclaimed the swamp in which I'd languished. I gave birth to my infinite being, but I had to wrench myself out of me with forceps.

Fernando Pessoa
At first I felt dizzy - not with the kind of dizziness that makes the body reel but the kind that's like a dead emptiness in the brain, an instinctive awareness of the void.

At first I felt dizzy - not with the kind of dizziness that makes the body reel but the kind that's like a dead emptiness in the brain, an instinctive awareness of the void.

Fernando Pessoa
What has happened to us has happened to everyone or only us; if to everyone, then it's no novelty, and if only to us, then it won't be understood.

From, The Book of Disquiet

What has happened to us has happened to everyone or only us; if to everyone, then it's no novelty, and if only to us, then it won't be understood. From, The Book of Disquiet

Fernando Pessoa
Without madness what is man
But a wholesome beast,
Postponed corpse that begets?

Without madness what is man But a wholesome beast, Postponed corpse that begets?

Fernando Pessoa
I don't mourn the loss of my childhood; I mourn because everything, including (my) childhood, is lost.

I don't mourn the loss of my childhood; I mourn because everything, including (my) childhood, is lost.

Fernando Pessoa
Blessed are those who entrust their lives to no one.

Blessed are those who entrust their lives to no one.

Fernando Pessoa
What Hells and Purgatories and Heavens I have inside of me! But who sees me do anything that disagrees with life--me, so calm and peaceful?

What Hells and Purgatories and Heavens I have inside of me! But who sees me do anything that disagrees with life--me, so calm and peaceful?

Fernando Pessoa
I am the escaped one,
After I was born
They locked me up inside me
But I left. 
My soul seeks me, 
Through hills and valley,
I hope my soul
Never finds me.

I am the escaped one, After I was born They locked me up inside me But I left. My soul seeks me, Through hills and valley, I hope my soul Never finds me.

Fernando Pessoa
I know nothing and my heart aches

I know nothing and my heart aches

Fernando Pessoa
…to know how to think with emotions and to feel with intellect…

…to know how to think with emotions and to feel with intellect…

Fernando Pessoa
Today I suddenly experienced an absurd but quite valid sensation. I realized, in an intimate lightning flash, that I am no one. No one, absolutely no one.

Today I suddenly experienced an absurd but quite valid sensation. I realized, in an intimate lightning flash, that I am no one. No one, absolutely no one.

Fernando Pessoa
To love is to tire of being alone; it is therefore a cowardice, a betrayal of ourselves. (It is exceedingly important that we not love.)

To love is to tire of being alone; it is therefore a cowardice, a betrayal of ourselves. (It is exceedingly important that we not love.)

Fernando Pessoa
Writing is like paying myself a formal visit…

Writing is like paying myself a formal visit…

Fernando Pessoa
I realize that I was all error and deviation, that I never lived, that I existed only in so far as I filled time with consciousness and thought.

I realize that I was all error and deviation, that I never lived, that I existed only in so far as I filled time with consciousness and thought.

Fernando Pessoa
There are ships sailing to many ports, but not a single one goes to where life is not painful; nor is there a port of call where it is possible to forget.

There are ships sailing to many ports, but not a single one goes to where life is not painful; nor is there a port of call where it is possible to forget.

Fernando Pessoa
My boredom with everything has numbed me.

My boredom with everything has numbed me.

Fernando Pessoa
Everything is theater.

Everything is theater.

Fernando Pessoa
This world is for those who are born to conquer it, Not for those who dream that are able to conquer it, even if they're right.

This world is for those who are born to conquer it, Not for those who dream that are able to conquer it, even if they're right.

Fernando Pessoa
Life is full of paradoxes, as roses are of thorns.

Life is full of paradoxes, as roses are of thorns.

Fernando Pessoa
Let us sculpt in hopeless silence all our dreams of speaking.

Let us sculpt in hopeless silence all our dreams of speaking.

Fernando Pessoa
To act—that is true wisdom. I can be what I want to be, but I have to want whatever it is. Success consists in being successful, not in having the potential for success.

To act—that is true wisdom. I can be what I want to be, but I have to want whatever it is. Success consists in being successful, not in having the potential for success.

Fernando Pessoa
We, all who live, have
A life that is lived
And another life that is thought,
And the only life we have
It's the one that is divided
In right or wrong.

We, all who live, have A life that is lived And another life that is thought, And the only life we have It's the one that is divided In right or wrong.

Fernando Pessoa
Again I see you, But me I don't see!, The magical mirror in which I saw myself has been broken, And only a piece of me I see in each fatal fragment - Only a piece of you and me!...

Again I see you, But me I don't see!, The magical mirror in which I saw myself has been broken, And only a piece of me I see in each fatal fragment - Only a piece of you and me!...

Fernando Pessoa
Life is whatever we conceive it to be.

Life is whatever we conceive it to be.

Fernando Pessoa
Pg.9

Pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.

Fernando Pessoa
Everything I sought in life I abandoned for the sake of the search. I'm like one who absentmindedly looks for he doesn't know what, having forgotten it in his dreaming as the search got under way.

Everything I sought in life I abandoned for the sake of the search. I'm like one who absentmindedly looks for he doesn't know what, having forgotten it in his dreaming as the search got under way.

Fernando Pessoa
To write is to forget. Literature is the pleasantest way of ignoring life.

To write is to forget. Literature is the pleasantest way of ignoring life.

Fernando Pessoa
Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.

Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.

Fernando Pessoa
There's something vile (and all the more vile because ridiculous) in the tendency of feeble men to make universal tragedies out of the sad comedies of their private woes.

There's something vile (and all the more vile because ridiculous) in the tendency of feeble men to make universal tragedies out of the sad comedies of their private woes.

Fernando Pessoa
I am nothing.
I will never be anything.
I cannot wish to be anything.
Bar that, I have in me all the dreams of the world.

I am nothing. I will never be anything. I cannot wish to be anything. Bar that, I have in me all the dreams of the world.

Fernando Pessoa
I'm the empty stage where various actors act out various plays.

I'm the empty stage where various actors act out various plays.

Fernando Pessoa
I never had anyone I could call “Master”. No Christ died for me. No Buddha showed me the right path. In the depths of my dreams no Apollo or Athena appeared to me to enlighten my soul

I never had anyone I could call “Master”. No Christ died for me. No Buddha showed me the right path. In the depths of my dreams no Apollo or Athena appeared to me to enlighten my soul

Fernando Pessoa
To feel today what one felt yesterday isn't to feel - it's to remember today what was felt yesterday, to be today's living corpse of what yesterday was lived and lost.

To feel today what one felt yesterday isn't to feel - it's to remember today what was felt yesterday, to be today's living corpse of what yesterday was lived and lost.

Fernando Pessoa
FIRST WATCHER Why do people die?
SECOND WATCHER Perhaps because they don't dream enough...

FIRST WATCHER Why do people die? SECOND WATCHER Perhaps because they don't dream enough...

Fernando Pessoa
The chill of what I won't feel gnaws at my present heart.

The chill of what I won't feel gnaws at my present heart.

Fernando Pessoa
Pg 9,

Pg 9, "The consciousness of life's unconsciousness is the oldest tax levied on the intelligence.

Fernando Pessoa
From so much self-revising, I’ve destroyed myself. From so much self-thinking, I’m now my thoughts and not I

From so much self-revising, I’ve destroyed myself. From so much self-thinking, I’m now my thoughts and not I

Fernando Pessoa
Ah, what a morning this is, awakening me to life's stupidity. [98 - Zenith trans.]

Ah, what a morning this is, awakening me to life's stupidity. [98 - Zenith trans.]

Fernando Pessoa
To love is to tire of being alone; it is therefore a cowardice, a betrayal of ourselves.

To love is to tire of being alone; it is therefore a cowardice, a betrayal of ourselves.

Fernando Pessoa
We live by action—by acting on desire. Those of us who don't know how to want—whether geniuses or beggars—are related by impotence.

We live by action—by acting on desire. Those of us who don't know how to want—whether geniuses or beggars—are related by impotence.

Fernando Pessoa
I crave time in all its duration, and I
want to be myself unconditionally.

I crave time in all its duration, and I want to be myself unconditionally.

Fernando Pessoa
I asked for very little from life, and even this little was denied me.

I asked for very little from life, and even this little was denied me.

Fernando Pessoa