Fernando Pessoa1888–1935- Poem (5 April 1935), reported in Poesias inéditas (1930-1935), p. 192
Was it worthwhile?
Everything is worthwhile
if the soul is not small.Mensagem (1934), “Mar Português”- The Book of Disquiet
- Álvaro de Campos (heteronym), in Presença no. 5 (1927)
- Poem “Ulisses”, verse 1
- The Book of Disquiet (as Bernardo Soares; published 1982)
Every man who deserves to be famous knows it is not worth the trouble.
A Celebridade (1915)Ah, to be you while being I!
To have your glad unconsciousness
And be conscious of it!“Ela canta, pobre ceifeira” (“She sings, poor reaper”), Athena no. 3 (December 1924); tr. Richard ZenithI have found out that reading is a slavish sort of dreaming. If I must dream, why not my own dreams?
Apontamentos pessoais [“Autobiographical Notes”] (1910)- Álvaro de Campos (heteronym), “Começo a conhecer-me. Não existo.”, in Fernando Pessoa & Co: Selected Poems, trans. Richard Zenith (Grove Press, 1998)
