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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