A great emotion is too selfish ; it takes into itself all the blood of the spirit, and the congestion leaves the hands too cold to write. Three sorts of emotion produce great poetry - strong but quick emotions, seized upon for art as soon as they have passed, but not before they have passed ; strong and deep emotions in their remembrance along time after ; and false emotions, that is to say, emotions felt in the intellect. Not insincerity, but a translated sincerity, is the basis of all art.
Interpretation
The quote explores the relationship between emotion and poetry, suggesting that true artistic expression arises from a balance of genuine feelings and intellectual understanding.
Fernando Pessoa reflects on how different types of emotions influence the creation of poetry. He argues that while great emotions can overshadow the ability to express oneself artistically, strong and fleeting emotions can inspire immediate creativity. Additionally, he emphasizes that deeply felt memories of emotions can also fuel artistic expression. Ultimately, he suggests that even emotions that are processed intellectually can lead to sincere art, as they represent a transformed form of true emotion.
In practice
In a literary workshop discussing how emotion fuels creativity, this quote can be used to highlight the balance between feeling and expression.
I have at this moment so many fundamental thoughts, so many truly metaphysical things to say, that I suddenly get tired and decide not to write any more, not to think any more, but to allow the fever of speaking to make me sleepy, and with my eyes closed, like a cat, I play with everything I could have said.
It's been months since I last wrote. I've lived in a state of mental slumber, leading the life of someone else. I've felt, very often, a vicarious happiness. I haven't existed. I've been someone else. I've lived without thinking.
We all have two lives: The true, the one we dreamed of in childhood And go on dreaming of as adults in a substratum of mist; the false, the one we love when we live with others, the practical, the useful, the one we end up by being put in a coffin.
I'm a man for whom the outside world is an inner Reality.
My dreams are a stupid refuge, like an umbrella against a thunderbolt.
The chill of what I won't feel gnaws at my present heart.
I love watching faces as they grow up. It's the difference between so many strong British actresses compared to what America does to women. I like a face that hasn't been tampered with.
Writing is the delicate, difficult, and dangerous means of succeeding in avowing the unavowable.
To the children who loved Harry Potter, I want to say your enthusiasm was the real magic. I so enjoyed being on the journey with you. And to the adults who bought the Harry Potter books and devoured them, I just want to say, those books were for children.
When I finish a film, I want to forget it. I never like to repeat myself. Maybe, when I am dead, they will find certain consistencies in the style of my films, but I never want one film to look like another.
I try to remember that the job - as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy - of the artist is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it.
In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.
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