29 quotes
Portuguese poet, writer, and philosopher (1888–1935)
“From so much self-revising, I’ve destroyed myself. From so much self-thinking, I’m now my thoughts and not I”
"To be understood is to prostitute oneself"
on Communication
"The human soul is an abyss"
on Philosophy
"To pretend is to know oneself."
on Self Awareness
"No-one loves another More than he loves whatever another within may haveThat is part of one's self"
on Love
"I look at myself but I'm missing. I know myself: it’s not me."
on Identity
"Without madness what is manBut a wholesome beast,Postponed corpse that begets?"
"But if the Dream Kings were mine, what would I have to dream about? If I possessed the impossible landscapes, what would remain of the impossible?"
on Imagination
"Only poets and philosophers see the world as it really is, for only to them is it given to live without illusions. To see clearly is to not act."
on Perception
"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."
on Dreams
"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!"
on Life
"My past is everything I failed to be."
on Success
"Time, which grays hair and wrinkles faces, also withers violent affections, and much more quickly."
on Time
"Great mysteries inhabit the threshold of my being."
"All letters of love are Ridiculous. They wouldn’t be love letters if they were not Ridiculous."
"By day I am nothing, by night I am I."
"To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent."
on Power
"All pleasure is a vice because seeking pleasure is what everyone does in life, and the worst vice of all is to do what everyone else does."
"There are ships sailing to many ports, but not a single one goes where life is not painful."
"There's no greater proof of an impoverished mind than its inability to be witty except at other people's expense."
on Wisdom
"Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!"
