7 Enlightening Phrases By Fernando Pessoa
Today we present some enlightening phrases by Fernando Pessoa, one of the greatest poets of all time born in Portugal and lived between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. For some, he is one of the most enigmatic figures in literature. For others, a magician who has delved into the depths of the human soul and bequeathed some verses full of intelligence and wisdom.
One of the more mysterious aspects of Pessoa was his obsession with the use of heteronyms. These are fictional characters indicated as authors of his works. Among the best known were Alberto Caeiro, Alvaro de Campos, Bernardo Soares and Ricardo Reis. He also published criticisms against these alleged authors, who were none other than himself.
The most interesting aspect is that these heteronyms were not mere pseudonyms or signatures. Each character had its own character and style. Those who have studied his works sometimes doubt that “Fernando Pessoa” was actually his true identity. In any case, this author has left us extraordinary works from which we extrapolate seven sentences that invite reflection.
Phrases by Fernando Pessoa
Unconsciousness: a recurring theme in Fernando Pessoa
Fernando Pessoa’s work is very close to philosophy. His reflections are acute excursus into the logic of existence. In this sentence, for example, he demonstrates the paradox of thinking and not thinking: “The consciousness of the unconsciousness of life is the greatest martyrdom imposed on the intelligence”.
This statement is striking because it reveals a fundamental contradiction. It is through intelligence and consciousness that we discover the existence of unconsciousness. The latter is inaccessible because it is unconscious and, as such, not fully accessible to reason. We can only understand that we know we don’t know.
The way to see the world
The look defines the identity. At the same time, identity defines the look. So the one and the other reality are always connected. This translates into one of Fernando Pessoa’s most beautiful phrases: “Because I have the dimension of what I see and not the dimension of my height”.
This means that the wider the gaze, the larger the person observing. And vice versa, who has a short-range vision is a person characterized by smallness. Height, in this figurative sense, defines the way of seeing reality.
Know each other and think
Pessoa fought with and against thought, which frees and imprisons. It gives the joy of understanding, but it also deprives life of freshness, as the poet himself recognizes in this sentence: “Not knowing each other, this is living. Knowing each other badly, this is thinking ”.
He wants to tell us that the genuine things in life are simply lived. This is fullness. Thinking continuously, on the other hand, is a limited exercise, which leads only to partial results and which prevents you from fully feeling existence. Life is stronger than thought.
The deceptions of love
Pessoa defines love as a construction of thought, something that has a lot to do with the imagination. It is evident from his words: “We never love anyone. We just love the idea we have of someone. It is our concept (in short, ourselves) that we love ”.
Ultimately, he argues that love is a selfish projection. We see in others what we want or need to see. Their reality escapes us and we never really get to know it. We simply conceptualize it and fall in love with this conceptualization.
An exception for which there is no norm
For Pessoa, each individual is an infinite reality. There is no way to build generalizations that are valid for everyone. This is why one of Pessoa’s phrases reads: “There are no rules. All men are exceptions to a rule that does not exist ”.
The denial of a common standard for man amounts to a celebration of the uniqueness of the individual. Even though we seem to share common characteristics, each person is a different and unique world. In this sense, there is no way to create a one-size-fits-all rule.
Success and its mysteries
For the famous Portuguese poet, success is built: “Success consists in having success, not in having the conditions for success. Any extended land has the conditions for building a palace, but where will the palace be if it is not built there? “
With this wonderful phrase, Fernando Pessoa discredits the concept of talent as potential. It is not the strengths or skills we have that define our talent, it is the actions that determine our abilities and have the last word.
Death, an eternal theme
On death Pessoa stated the following: “ Looking at a corpse, death seems to me a departure. The corpse gives me the impression of a discarded dress. Someone left and didn’t need to take that one dress they wore with them ”.
This beautiful phrase speaks of the body as a facade of who we are. In death there is no presence of anyone. What this person is is not represented by the dead body. He who dies is simply no longer.
Fernando Pessoa is one of those poets who never forget after reading it. In him an extraordinary sensitivity and an admirable lucidity are mixed. In the verses and lines of his writings there are wonderful revelations that give the chills.
