Sunday, June 13, 2010

Meander with me . . .

Today is the birthday of Fernando Pessoa (June 13, 1888 — November 30, 1935), poet and writer.

"Wise is he who enjoys the show offered by the world." - Fernando Pessoa

"Masquerades disclose the reality of souls. As long as no one sees who we are, we can tell the most intimate details of our life. I sometimes muse over this sketch of a story—about a man afflicted by one of those personal tragedies born of extreme shyness . . . . . . who one day, while wearing a mask I don’t know where, told another mask all the most personal, most secret, most unthinkable things that could be told about his tragic and serene life. And since no outward detail would give him away, he having disguised even his voice, and since he didn’t take careful note of whoever had listened to him, he could enjoy the ample sensation of knowing that somewhere in the world there was someone who knew him as not even his closest and finest friend did. When he walked down the street he would ask himself if this person, or that one, or that person over there might not be the one to whom he’d once, wearing a mask, told his most private life. Thus would be born in him a new interest in each person, since each person might be his only, unknown confidant. And his crowning glory would be if the whole of that sorrowful life he’d told were, from start to finish, absolutely false." — Fernando Pessoa

"Success consists in being successful, not in having potential for success. Any wide piece of ground is the potential site of a palace, but there's no palace till it's built." - Fernando Pessoa

"No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it." - Fernando Pessoa

"Could it think, the heart would stop beating." - Fernando Pessoa

Pessoa image source (1)

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