... And I, who timidly hate life, fear death with fascination. I fear this nothingness that could be something else, and I fear it as nothing and as something else simultaneously, as if gross horror and non-existence could coincide there, as if my coffin could entrap the eternal breathing of a bodily soul, as if immortality could be tormented by confinement. The idea of hell, which only a satanic soul could have invented seems to me to have derived from this sort of confusion - a mixture of two different fears that contradict and contaminate each other.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Fear of life and death mixes into a confusing horror of existence.
- In plain terms
- Fear of living and dying mix together.
- What can you take from it?
- Understand fear to manage existential dread.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why fear life and death?
- How do you face mortality?
Another view
Fear of death is often distinct from fear of life.
More from Fernando Pessoa
Whether or not they exist, we're slaves to the gods.
Permalink to quote #18 I think of life as an inn where I have to stay until the abyss coach arrives. I don't know where it will take me, for I know nothing.
Permalink to quote #20 Oh Portugal, today you are fog...
Permalink to quote #17
Related quotes
I'm not scared of dying And I, don't really care If it' s peace you find in dying Well then, let the time be near.
Laura NyroLaura Nyro quote #1 I have no fear nor shrinking; I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me.
Edith CavellEdith Cavell quote #1 Only those are fit to live who are not afraid of dying.
Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthur quote #8