Something that distinguishes the character is the perfect notion that the devil is always walking, always at the side, lurking in wait for the slightest falter. Lose fear of him for an instant and the fall is almost certain. Only fools do not realize it. And those who are not foolish, sometimes well aware that there is nothing to joke about, experience the indescribable distress and terror that comes from realizing how weak the flesh is and how low, for how little, it can descend. To have character is, to a large extent, to become accustomed to incessant vigilance.
Nothing Lasting and Concrete Can Be Achieved…
There is no point: nothing lasting and concrete can be achieved without the spirit constantly turning towards it. Even affliction itself is only consolidated by habit. And just as it grows to monstrosity when regularly fed, so does its opposite when cultivated with courage and constancy. Life always ends up tending towards what repetition has clamored for it to become.
It Takes Having a Day Ruined…
It takes having a day ruined by something unforeseen for the mind to remember how wonderful those days are when there are no disturbances. We forget to appreciate the placidity until we feel the urge to rant against luck for the plans that have been destroyed. But it is inevitable… So let the bad day be useful for learning to master anger and learn this lesson…
It Takes Some Effort to Break Through…
It takes some effort to break through the surface and appreciate the depth of Teixeira de Pascoaes’ artistic motivation. On the surface, words are always words, and poetry is nothing more than idealization. But if we ask ourselves: “What is behind the words? What kind of experience motivated them?”—with some effort, something reveals itself, and this something, in Teixeira de Pascoaes, is beautiful and sincere. But it is hard to experience it, since selfishness is constantly working to destroy it. Connecting the past to the present and, above all, looking at it and the whole of existence with benevolent eyes, is something that only a great spirit can do.