Pessoa Fernando
Fernando Pessoa: A Life of Depth and Profundity
Full Name and Common Aliases
Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa was a Portuguese poet, writer, philosopher, literary critic, translator, publisher, theatrical agent, and diplomat. He is also known as Alpha de Sá, Duarte de Sá, Bernardo Vieira, and Chevalier Fernando Pessoa.
Birth and Death Dates
Fernando Pessoa was born on June 13, 1888, in Lisbon, Portugal, and died on November 30, 1935.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Pessoa was a Portuguese national, and his professions included poet, writer, philosopher, literary critic, translator, publisher, theatrical agent, and diplomat. He is considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, known for his complex and innovative style.
Early Life and Background
Fernando Pessoa's early life was marked by a sense of displacement and uncertainty. His father, Joaquim de Freitas Henriques, abandoned the family before Fernando was born, leaving his mother, Maria Madalena da Silva Amelina Pessoa, to raise him on her own. Pessoa's relationship with his mother was strained, and he often felt like an outsider in his own family.
Despite these challenges, Pessoa was a prodigious reader from a young age, devouring the works of great thinkers such as Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Kant. He attended school in Lisbon, but dropped out at the age of 16 to pursue a career in business. However, he soon became disillusioned with the world of commerce and turned his attention to writing.
Major Accomplishments
Pessoa's major accomplishments include:
Developing a unique style that blended elements of modernism, symbolism, and expressionism.
Creating over 70 alternate personas or heteronyms, each with its own distinct voice and perspective.
Writing over 100 volumes of poetry, prose, and criticism during his lifetime.
Influencing generations of writers and thinkers around the world.
Notable Works or Actions
Some of Pessoa's most notable works include:
The Book of Disquiet (1935), a collection of poems, stories, and fragments that explore themes of identity, morality, and the human condition.
Mensagem (1927), a collection of poems that celebrate Portuguese culture and history.
A Little More Than Love (1918), a novel that explores themes of love, loss, and identity.Impact and Legacy
Fernando Pessoa's impact on literature and philosophy is immeasurable. His innovative style and use of multiple personas have influenced writers such as T.S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, and Sylvia Plath. His ideas about the nature of identity and the human condition continue to resonate with readers around the world.Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Fernando Pessoa is widely quoted or remembered because of his profound insights into the human experience. His writings on themes such as:
The fragmented nature of identity and selfhood.
The tension between individualism and collectivism.
The search for meaning and purpose in a chaotic world.
have resonated with readers from all walks of life. His quotes are often used to inspire, provoke, and challenge people to think more deeply about themselves and the world around them.
In conclusion, Fernando Pessoa was a complex, innovative, and profoundly influential writer who continues to captivate readers around the world. His legacy is a testament to the power of literature to inspire, educate, and transform us.
Quotes by Pessoa Fernando
My happiest moments are those when I think nothing, want nothing, and dream nothing, being lost in a torpor like some accidental plant, like mere moss growing on life’s surface. I savour without bitterness this absurd awareness of being nothing, this foretaste of death and extinction.
Seeing and hearing are the only noble things in life. The other senses are plebeian and carnal. The only aristocracy is never to touch. Avoid getting close – that’s true nobility.
Peace at least. All that was dross and residue vanishes from my soul as if it had never been. I'm alone and calm. It's like the moment when I could theoretically convert to a religion. But although I'm no longer attracted to anything down here, I'm also not attracted to anything up above. I feel free, as if I'd ceased to exist and were conscious of that fact.
My happiest moments are those when I think nothing, want nothing, and dream nothing, being lost in a torpor like some accidental plant, like mere moss growing on life's surface. I savour without bitterness this absurd awareness of being nothing, this foretaste of death and extinction.
How can I possess with my body, when I don't even possess my body? How can I possess with my soul, when I don't possess my soul? How can I understand with my mind, when I don't understand my mind? There is no body or truth we possess, nor even any illusion. We are phantoms made of lies, shadows of illusions, and our life is hollow on both the outside and the inside.
Remain pure, not in order to be noble or strong but to be yourself. To give your love is to lose love.Abdicate from life so as not to abdicate from yourself.
Seeing and hearing are the only noble things in life. The other senses are plebeian and carnal. The only aristocracy is never to touch. Avoid getting close – that's true nobility.
Let's not even touch life with the tips of our fingers.Let's not even know the love in our minds.May we never know the feel of a women's kiss, not even in our dreams.
The gods grant nothing more than life,So let us reject whatever lifts us To unbreathable heights, Eternal but flowerless.