Last update: April 20, 2018
Fernando Pessoa was a Portuguese poet and writer. He was born in 1888 and died in 1935. Despite having dedicated himself to the journalistic, advertising and commercial sector, he achieved greater success as a writer, leaving us his precious works as an inheritance. Today we want to give you some of the best quotes from Fernando Pessoa.
In his poems and novels, this author leaves great room for interpretation to the reader. Through very subjective themes and the use of heteronymy, Fernando Pessoa invites us to deep reflection. Perhaps it is precisely because of his particular style that this author has attracted the attention and interest of many scholars.
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We have collected some quotes from Fernando Pessoa that allow us to get a little closer to the vision that this great writer had of the world, interpersonal relationships and life. Read on to learn more!
The best quotes from Fernando Pessoa
1. I feel so isolated that I feel the distance between me and my presence
It is one of the first quotes from Fernando Pessoa that we thought we would include in this article because it allows us to reflect on existence. Sometimes we are so focused on the outside world that we forget about the rest, which is ourselves. This distance from ourselves sometimes prevents us from knowing who we really are.
Are we ourselves in front of others? What have we given up to please others or to improve the image we project? What have we been silent about for fear of the disapproval of others? All this causes an isolation from our deepest "I", what turns out to be our essence. We put him aside as if he cared less about his multiple reflections in others.
2. Put your all into every little thing you do
Fernando Pessoa invites us to give our best. Sometimes, in fact, we do not give the best of ourselves because we believe that it is not important, when in reality the importance does not define the object or the action itself, but our attitude. In this sense, if we wake up from the sleep we used to live in, we will realize that even the little things can bring a huge feeling of well-being.
If we adopt this attitude, it will become a habit and it will bring us great benefits, as well as enrich us as people. Let's not forget that what requires more effort and effort ultimately gives us more satisfaction. Because it is thanks to that commitment that we overcome ourselves, that we grow and that we face the challenges of life to the point of saying “I did it!”.
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We must not underestimate or despise what we do, however normal it may seem. Even what seems most insignificant at first can give us great teachings and knowledge, as well as open the door to new opportunities. The small steps are the most important, they allow us to walk the paths we have chosen to accomplish our goals, whatever they may be.
3. Life is what we make of it. Travels are travelers. What we see is not what we see but what we are
This third quote from Fernando Pessoa pushes us to adopt a new perspective on the world around us. Because every time we see something from the outside, every time we judge or criticize someone, we see a part of us.
We cannot judge someone without looking like the accused. Let's think of the famous words that everyone has heard a few times:
It is true that we usually perceive others' defects first and that we have a hard time seeing our own. However, what we see is what we are. Why do people react differently when faced with an obstacle? Why do some feel victims and others not? Because this is what we choose to be and we project it to the outside world.
4. Don't do today what you will stop doing tomorrow
Procrastination is a great evil. We tend to put things off as if we have all the time in the world and could waste it. This is why there is a saying that says "do not postpone what you can do today until tomorrow". Fernando Pessoa teaches us a similar thing, but from another point of view, as the fourth quote suggests.
Fernando Pessoa invites us to question what we are doing: is it worth it? Does he bring us closer to our dreams or does he distance us from them? It is a waste of time? We don't have to do something just to do, but we have to think about our goals, our dreams and try to make sense of what we won't have forever: time.
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Very often we are not well, we are unhappy, perhaps paralyzed in our comfort zone ... However, we do not rethink or reschedule what we do every day. We have to analyze it, question it, if it's not what we want to do or we could stop doing it tomorrow, then let's abandon it! Time is precious, let's appreciate it.
5. Things have no meaning, they have an existence. Things are the only occult sense of things
This last quote from Fernando Pessoa makes us reflect on the tendency of men to label everything to feel safer. If a thing doesn't have a label, it doesn't seem to exist. Existence itself seems to have no meaning.
If we analyze the way we communicate, we realize the importance of Fernando Pessoa's words. In our vocabulary, the word "thing" is a wildcard that we use for everything. What, however, is its true meaning? In the lack of meaning lies its existence, its lack of personality.
Zero is the greatest metaphor. The infinite is the greatest analogy. Existence is the greatest symbol.
Fernando Pessoa,
All these phrases by Fernando Pessoa contain a different way of seeing the world. A window from which to look out to see what surrounds us from totally new perspectives. The quotes we have collected in this article reveal the brilliant thinking of this famous writer as well as his dexterity with words. The depth of his sentences, and of his work in general, made him the object of study and of great interest not only among his contemporaries, but also among today's scholars who continue to interpret and analyze the immense legacy of him.
