I've always rejected being understood. To be understood is to prostitute oneself. I prefer to be taken seriously for what I'm not, remaining humanly unknown, with naturalness and all due respect.

Repudiei sempre que me compreendessem. Ser compreendido é prostituir-se. Prefiro ser tomado a sério como o que não sou, ignorado humanamente, com decência e naturalidade.

Original text (Portuguese)

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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.