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.
Independence is never given to a people, it has to be earned; and, once earned, must be defended.
Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you.
Finding the courage to go to the places that scare us cannot happen without compassionate inquiry into the workings of ego... Openness doesn't come from resisting our fears but from getting to know them well.
But the human body has an enormous capacity for adjusting to trying circumstances. I have found that one can bear the unbearable if one can keep one's spirits strong even when one's body is being tested. Strong convictions are the secret of surviving deprivation; your spirit can be full even when your stomach is empty.
Those in powerless positions aren't about to complain about bullying bosses, abusive supervisors or corrupt co-workers. There is no safe way to do so and no process that promises redress.
This is how a man looks when he's deciding that the risk of death is better than the risk of change.
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