Lord, may the pain be ours, And the weakness that it brings, But at least give us the strength, Of not showing it to anyone!
Interpretation
The quote expresses a desire for inner strength to endure pain without showing vulnerability to others.
In this quote, Fernando Pessoa reflects on the human experience of suffering and the inherent weakness that accompanies it. He invokes a plea for strength not only to bear the pain but to hide it from the external world, suggesting that there is value in maintaining a facade of resilience even in moments of deep personal struggle. This highlights the complexity of human emotions and the often-unseen battles that individuals face.
In practice
In a speech about mental health, this quote could illustrate the hidden struggles many face.
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 spoke without fear of contradiction. I simply did not suffer self-doubt.
Our way of getting an army able to fight the German army is to declare war on Germany just as if we had such an army, and then trust to the appalling resultant peril and disaster to drive us into wholesale enlistment.
What I do with my work is, I give women permission to be angry. Because that's our right. Because it's an emotion. Because it's been taken away from us. Because we've been silenced.
We are Craiglockhart's success stories. Look at us. We don't remember, we don't feel, we don't think - at least beyond the confines of what's needed to do the job. By any proper civilized standard (but what does that mean now?) we are objects of horror. But our nerves are completely steady. And we are still alive.
A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.
Though government has an important role to play in meeting the many challenges that remain before us, we are coming to understand that no organization, including government, will fully succeed without the active participation of each of us. Volunteers are vital to enabling this country to live up to the true promise of its heritage
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