7 Revealing Phrases By Fernando Pessoa

Fernando Pessoa is one of the great poets  of all time. He was born in Portugal and lived between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. For some, he is one of the most enigmatic figures in literature. For others, a magician who dived into the depths of the human soul and left a legacy of verses full of intelligence and wisdom.

One of the most mysterious aspects  of Pessoa was his obsession with resorting to heteronyms. These are fictional characters who were listed as the authors of his work. Some of the best known were Alberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos, Bernardo Soares and Ricardo Reis. He himself published criticisms against those alleged authors, who were nothing more than himself.

The most interesting thing is that these heteronyms were not simple pseudonyms or signatures. Each of these personalities  had their own character and style. Those who have studied his work sometimes also doubt that Fernando Pessoa was his true identity. Be that as it may, he left an extraordinary work. From it we extract seven phrases that invite reflection.

Unconsciousness, a recurring theme in Fernando Pessoa

Fernando Pessoa’s work is very close to philosophy. His reflections are sharp expeditions into the logic of existence. In this sentence, for example, he shows the paradox of thinking and not thinking: ” The consciousness  of the unconsciousness of life is the oldest tax that falls on intelligence. “

This sentence impacts because it reveals a basic contradiction. It is through intelligence and consciousness that the existence of unconsciousness is discovered. The latter is inaccessible, since it is unconsciousness and as such does not fully access reason. So we only get to know  what we ignore.

On the way of looking at the world

The look defines the identity. At the same time, identity defines the look. So one and the other reality are always together. That is what is captured in one of his most wonderful phrases: ” Because I am the size of what I see, and not the size of my height. “

This means that the  broader the gaze, the greater the viewer. And the opposite: who has a short range in his vision, it is because he is invaded with smallness. Stature, figuratively speaking, defines the way of seeing reality.

Meet and think

Pessoa battled with and against thought. This liberates and imprisons. It gives the happiness of understanding, but at the same time it takes away the freshness of life, as the poet recognizes in this sentence: “ Not knowing about oneself, that is living. Knowing bad about oneself, that is thinking ”.

What it means is that the most genuine of life is simply lived. This is fullness. On the other hand, thinking and thinking about yourself is a limited exercise, which only leads to partial results and deprives you of fully feeling existence. Life is stronger than thought.

The lures of love

Pessoa defines love as a construction of thought that is very imaginary. This is evidenced in his sentence: “ We never love anyone: we only love the idea we have of someone. What we love is our concept, that is, ourselves ”.

Ultimately, it states that love is a selfish projection. We see in the other what we want or need to see. Its reality eludes us and we never really get to know what it is like. We just conceptualize it and fall in love with that conceptualization.

An exception for which there is no rule

For Pessoa, each individual is an infinite reality. There is no possibility of constructing generalizations that are valid for each and every one. That is why in one of his writings he says: “ There are no rules. All men are exceptions to a rule that does not exist ”.

The denial of a norm common to human beings means an exaltation of individual particularity. Although it seems that we share common traits, each person is a different and unique world. In this sense, there is no way to create a rule that can be applied to everyone.

Success and its mysteries

For this famous Portuguese poet, success is built: “ Success is in being successful, and not in having the conditions for success. Any large terrain has the conditions for a palace, but … where will the palace be if it is not built there? “

With this wonderful phrase, Fernando Pessoa demerits the concept of talent as potentiality. It is not so much the virtues or abilities you have to do things that define your talent, but rather the works that determine your abilities and give the opinion.

Death, an eternal theme

Regarding death, he affirms the following: “ When I see a dead person, death seems like a departure. The corpse gives me the impression of an abandoned suit. Someone left and did not need to wear that unique suit that he had worn .

This beautiful phrase speaks of the body as a facade of who we are. In death there is no presence of someone. What that someone is is not represented in the dead body. He who dies simply is no longer.

Fernando Pessoa is one of those poets who is never forgotten after having read it. An extraordinary sensibility is mixed in it, with an admirable lucidity. In his verses and in the lines of his writings there are wonderful revelations that are truly shocking.