Quotes from book
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis

The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
José Saramago Original title O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis (Portuguese, 1984)

The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis is a 1984 novel by Portuguese novelist José Saramago, the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature. It tells the story of the final year in the life of the title character, Ricardo Reis, one of the many heteronyms used by the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa.


José Saramago photo
José Saramago photo
José Saramago photo

“Fate [is] the supreme order to which even gods are subject. And what of men, what is their function. To challenge order, to change fate. For the better. For better or for worse, it makes no difference, the point is to keep fate from being fate.”

O destino é a ordem suprema, a que os próprios deuses aspiram, E os homens, que papel vem a ser o dos homens, Perturbar a ordem, corrigir o destino, Para melhor, Para melhor ou para pior, tanto faz, o que é preciso é impedir que o destino seja destino.
Source: The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (1993), p. 288

José Saramago photo

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