When everything seems to be set to show me off as intelligent, the fool I always keep hidden takes over all that I say.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the internal conflict between intelligence and foolishness within a person.
Pablo Neruda's quote reveals the struggle between one's public persona and the private self. It suggests that even when we strive to appear intelligent or wise, there exists a part of us—often hidden—that can undermine this facade, leading us to say or do foolish things. This duality highlights the complexity of human nature and the tension between our aspirations and our more vulnerable aspects.
In practice
In a speech about the complexity of human nature, I might quote this to illustrate that everyone has both wisdom and folly within them.
Perhaps this war will pass like the others which divided us leaving us dead, killing us along with the killers but the shame of this time puts its burning fingers to our faces. Who will erase the ruthlessness hidden in innocent blood?
I want to see the thirst inside the syllables I want to touch the fire in the sound: I want to feel the darkness of the cry. I want words as rough as virgin rocks.” - Verb.
Only do not forget, if I wake up crying it's only because in my dream I'm a lost child hunting through the leaves of the night for your hands.
And here am I, budding among the ruins with only sorrow to bite on, as if weeping were a seed and I the earth's only furrow.
Once more I am the silent one who came out of the distance wrapped in cold rain and bells: I owe to earth's pure death the will to sprout.
I learned about life from life itself, love I learned in a single kiss and could teach no one anything except that I have lived with something in common among men.
Your state of mind is everything.
A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting.
And I realized that sometimes the greatest triumphs in your life come in on little cat feet and sit on silent haunches and it's up to you to see it before it moves on.
Beware of the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world.
…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future.
There's no better way to test a person than to put them in the middle of a war. That's clearly going to show what kind of a character you're telling a story about.
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