To be great, be whole; Exclude nothing. Be whole in everything.
Interpretation
Embrace all aspects of life to achieve greatness.
Fernando Pessoa's quote emphasizes the importance of embracing all parts of oneself and one's experiences to achieve true greatness. By saying 'exclude nothing,' he suggests that both the positive and negative aspects of life contribute to a person's full being, and it is by accepting and integrating these diverse elements that one can become truly whole and accomplished.
In practice
During a motivational speech about personal growth.
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.
One word of truth outweighs the whole world.
When new turns of behavior cease to appear in the life of the individual, its behavior ceases to be intelligent.
Criticism can never instruct or benefit you. Its chief effect is that of a telegram with dubious news. Praise leaves no glow behind, for it is a writer's habit to remember nothing good of himself. I have usually forgotten those who have admired my work, and seldom anyone who disliked it. Obviously, this is because praise is never enough and censure always too much.
Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community.
With age, you see people fail more. You see yourself fail more. How do you keep that fearlessness of a kid? You keep going. Luckily, I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself.
Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things.
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