To create, I destroyed myself; I made myself external to such a degree within myself that within myself I do not exist except in an external fashion. I am the living setting in which several actors make entrances, putting on several different plays.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the inner conflict of an artist who sacrifices their true self to create external art.
In this profound statement by Fernando Pessoa, the author explores the intense inner turmoil and transformation that can accompany the creative process. The act of creation is portrayed as a destructive force that compels the artist to distance themselves from their authentic identity, leading to a perception of the self as a mere stage or setting upon which various personas or 'actors' take the spotlight. This commentary on the nature of creativity underscores the idea that artistic expression often entails a painful sacrifice of one’s inner essence to manifest outwardly, resulting in a fragmented sense of self.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of artistic expression, one might use this quote to illustrate the emotional sacrifices artists make.
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.
Death threatens our speech with futility because death is not just a biological event - it is a reality we fear may rob our living of any significance.
Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.
It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.
Beauty is self-defined, perceived and understood without ambiguity. It's the stuff that lies under the skins of our individual existences.
I believe my religion is the truth, but I am not the truth and the truth doesn't belong to me I'm trying to belong to the truth.
Truly, nothing in the world has so occupied my thoughts as this I, this riddle, the fact I am alive, that I am separated and isolated from all others, that I am Siddhartha! And about nothing in the world do I know less about than me, about Siddhartha!
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