Skip to content

There's no greater tragedy than an equal intensity, in the same soul or the same man, of the intellectual sentiment and the moral sentiment. For a man to be utterly and absolutely moral, he has to be a bit stupid. For a man to be absolutely intellectual, he has to be a bit immoral.

— Fernando Pessoa

Another quote →

More quotes by Fernando Pessoa

Every man who deserves to be famous knows it is not worth the trouble.

A Celebridade (1915)

Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.

Contradiction is the essence of the universe.

Was it worthwhile?
Everything is worthwhile
if the soul is not small.

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

All Fernando Pessoa quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Fernando Pessoa (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.