"The wise man makes his life monotonous, for then even the tiniest incident becomes imbued with great significance . . . The truly wise man could enjoy the whole spectacle of the world from his armchair; he wouldn't need to talk to anyone or to know how to read, just how to make use of his five sense and a soul innocent of sadness. One must monotonize existence in order to rid it of monotony. One must make the everyday so anodyne that the slightest incident proves entertaining.
"Because I am nothing, I can imagine myself to be anything."
Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet, Serpent's Tail, 1991
Edited by Maria Jose de Lancastre
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
I'm going to keep this in mind this week as I grade papers.
Posted by: Laura Orem | November 25, 2008 at 05:57 PM
Oh, but often there's great poetry to be found there: one of my long-ago students actually wrote the sentence "hung on a giblet." I think that's going to be the title of my next book!
Posted by: Sharon Mesmer | November 25, 2008 at 11:05 PM
That's terrific - and so appropriate for the season! I'll keep my eyes peeled for a gem or two in this pile.
Posted by: Laura Orem | November 26, 2008 at 06:33 AM