xy

@xy, member from Sept. 25, 2023

Favourite quotes (21448)

“He looked about thirty, thin, rather above average height, exaggeratedly bent over when seated but less so when he stood up, dressed with a certain negligence, which was not entirely negligence. On his pale, uninteresting face an air of suffering did not stir interest, although it was difficult to define what kind of suffering that air — it seemed to suggest several kinds: privation, anguish, and a suffering born from the indifference of having suffered a great deal.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Introduction, tr. by Alfred Mac Adam
The Book of Disquiet

“It's certain that, when hearing from any of those people the story of their sexual marathons, a vague suspicion pervades us, at about the seventh deflowering.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 243
The Book of Disquiet
Original: É certo que, ao ouvir contar a qualquer destes indivíduos as suas maratonas sexuais, uma vaga suspeita nos invade, pela altura do sétimo desfloramento.

“Contradiction is the essence of the universe.”

Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher

A essência do universo é a contradição.
"A Nova Poesia Portuguesa no Seu Aspecto Psicológico", published in A Águia, Porto (September 1912)

“Destiny gave me only two things: a few accounting books and the gift of dreaming.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid.
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Duas coisas só me deu o Destino: uns livros de contabilidade e o dom de sonhar.

“There are those that even God exploits, and they are prophets and saints in the vacuousness of the world.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 45
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Há os que Deus mesmo explora, e são profetas e santos na vacuidade do mundo.

“Only sterility is noble and dignified. Only killing what never was is elevated and perverse and absurd.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 289
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Só a esterilidade é nobre e digna. Só o matar o que nunca foi é alto e perverso e absurdo.

“It's been a long time since I've been me.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 143
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Há muito tempo que não sou eu.

“What would happen to the world if we were human?”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 259
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Que seria do mundo se fôssemos humanos?

“The world belongs to who doesn't feel. The primary condition to be a practical man is the absence of sensitivity.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 258
The Book of Disquiet
Original: O mundo é de quem não sente. A condição essencial para se ser um homem prático é a ausência de sensibilidade.

“There is no safe standard to tell man from animals.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 150
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Não há critério seguro para distinguir o homem dos animais.

“That's not my love; that's just your life.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid.
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Isso não é o meu amor; é apenas a sua vida.

“What is art but the denial of life?”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 174
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Que é a arte senão a negação da vida?

“Let's be simple and calm,
Like the trees and streams,
And God will love us, making us
Us, even as the trees are trees
And the streams are streams,
And will give us greenness in the spring, which is its season,
And a river to go to when we end…
And he'll give us nothing more, since to give us more would make us less us.”

Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher

Sejamos simples e calmos,
Como os regatos e as árvores,
E Deus amar-nos-á fazendo de nós
Belos como as árvores e os regatos,
E dar-nos-á verdor na sua primavera,
E um rio aonde ir ter quando acabemos...
E não nos dará mais nada, porque dar-nos mais seria tirar-nos mais.
Alberto Caeiro (heteronym), O Guardador de Rebanhos ("The Keeper of Sheep"), VI — in A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe, trans. Richard Zenith (Penguin, 2006)

“Why is art beautiful? Because it's useless. Why is life ugly? Because it's all ends and purposes and intentions.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 279
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Porque é bela a arte? Porque é inútil. Porque é feia a vida? Porque é toda fins e propósitos e intenções.

“Changing from the ghosts of faith to the spectres of reason is just changing cells.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid.
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Passar dos fantasmas da fé para os espectros da razão é somente ser mudado de cela.

“Being pleased with what they give you is proper of slaves. Asking for more is proper of children. Conquering more is proper of fools.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 133
[X]: text missing in the manuscript.
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Contentar-se com o que lhe dão é próprio dos escravos. Pedir masi é próprio das crianças. Conquistar mais é próprio dos loucos [porque toda a conquista é [X]]

“Against destiny I fulfilled my duty.
Uselessly? No, for I fulfilled it.”

Fernando Pessoa book Mensagem

Poem "D. Duarte", verses 5-6
Message
Original: Cumpri contra o Destino o meu dever.
Inutilmente? Não, porque o cumpri.

“Ah, to be you while being I!
To have your glad unconsciousness
And be conscious of it!”

Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher

Ah, poder ser tu, sendo eu!
Ter a tua alegre inconsciência,
E a consciência disso!
"Ela canta, pobre ceifeira" ["She sings, poor reaper"], first published in Athena, no. 3 (December 1924); trans. Richard Zenith, A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe (Penguin, 2006)

“Yes, talking to people makes me sleepy.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid.
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Sim, falar com gente dá-me vontade de dormir.

“Come sit by my side, Lydia, on the bank of the river.
Calmly let us watch it flow, and learn
That life passes, and we are not holding hands.
(Let us hold hands)
…..
Let us hold hands no more: why should we tire ourselves?
For our pleasure, for our pain, we pass on like the river.
'Tis better to know how to pass on silently,
With no great disquiet.”

Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher

Vem sentar-te comigo, Lídia, à beira do rio.
Sossegadamente fitemos o seu curso e aprendamos
Que a vida passa, e não estamos de mãos enlaçadas.
(Enlacemos as mãos)
.....
Desenlacemos as mãos, porque não vale a pena cansarmo-nos.
Quer gozemos, quer não gozemos, passamos como o rio.
Mais vale saber passar silenciosamente
E sem desassossegos grandes.
Ricardo Reis (heteronym), ode translated by Peter Rickard.