Fernando Pessoa Quotes

Portuguese poet, writer, and philosopher (1888–1935); creator of the heteronymic system including Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Álvaro de Campos, and Bernardo Soares

Add quote

Fernando Pessoa (13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet and writer, most of whose work was published posthumously. He wrote frequently under heteronyms, alter egos with developed personalities, biographies, jobs, habits, attitudes, addresses, etc., who sometimes quoted and interacted with each other and other people.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pen Names: Alberto Caeiro • Álvaro de Campos • Ricardo Reis • Bernardo Soares

Native Name: Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa

Alternative Names: Fernando Antonio Nogueira Pessoa

From Wikidata (CC0)

Showing quotes in randomized order to avoid selection bias. Click Popular for most popular quotes.

I'm a keeper of sheep.
The sheep are my thoughts
And each thought a sensation.
I think with my eyes and my ears
And with my hands and feet
And with my nose and mouth. To think a flower is to see and smell it,
And to eat a fruit is to know its meaning. That is why on a hot day
When I enjoy it so much I feel sad,
And I lie down in the grass
And close my warm eyes,
Then I feel my whole body lying down in reality,
I know the truth, and I'm happy.

To narrate is to create, for living is just being lived.

حتى أنا الحالم دوما، تأتينى بعض اللحظات التى يهرب الحلم منى فيها؛ حينئذ تبدو الأشياء واضحة بالنسبة إلى، فينزاح ضباب ما يحيط بى. وكل النتوءات المرئية تجرح بحدة جلد روحى. كل القساوات المرئية تؤذى ما بداخلى من قساوات.
كل أعباء وضغوط الأشياء المرئية تثقل على من داخل الروح.
حياتى هى جَلَدى الدائم بحياتى نفسها.

يا الهى.. يا إلهي. من أكون ؟ كم من ذوات أنا؟ من هو أنا؟ ما هو مذا الفاصل الموجود بيني وبيني ؟

Original: Penso as vezes, com um deleite triste, que se um dia, num futuro a que eu já não pertença, estas frases, que escrevo, durarem com louvor, eu terei enfim a gente que me "compreenda", os meus, a família verdadeiro para nela nascer e ser amado. [...] Serei compreendido só em efígie, quando a afeição já não compense a quem morreu a só desafeição que houve, quando vivo.

Walking on these streets, until the night falls, my life feels to me like the life they have. By day they’re full of meaningless activity; by night, they’re full of meaningless lack of it. By day I am nothing, and by night I am I. There is no difference between me and these streets, save they being streets and I a soul, which perhaps is irrelevant when we consider the essence of things.

There are dreamed anguishes that are more real
Than the ones life brings us, there are sensations
Felt only by imagining
Which are more ours than our own life is.
There's so often a thing which, not existing,
Does exist, exists lingeringly
And lingeringly is ours and us…

The moon is high up in the sky and it's spring.
I think of you and within myself I'm complete.

A light breeze comes to me from across the hazy fields.
I think of you and whisper your name. I'm not I: I'm happy.

أن أكون شاعراً ليس ما أطمح إليه ، ولكنها طريقتي كي أكون وحيدًا

My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tambours I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.

En mi corazón hay una paz de angustia, y mi sosiego está hecho de resignación.

Se depois de eu morrer, quiserem escrever a minha biografia, não há nada mais simples. Têm só duas datas: a da minha nascença e a da minha morte. Entre uma e outra coisa, todos os dias são meus

Poem "Mar Português", Verses 1-2

Talking to people makes me feel like sleeping. Only my ghostly and imaginary friends, only the conversations I have in my dreams, are genuinely real and substantial.

Original: Viajar? Para viajar basta existir. [...] Para quê viajar? Em Madrid, em Berlim, na Pérsia, na China, nos Pólos ambos, onde estaria eu senão em mim mesmo, e no tipo e género das minhas sensações? A vida é o que fazemos dela. As viagens são os viajantes. O que vemos não é o que vemos, senão o que somos.