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.
The Positive Function of Dreams…
The positive function of dreams is usually nothing more than a stimulus to the imagination. One can dream a lot without doing anything; one can even live in one’s dreams, enjoying oneself and truly feeling when dreaming. However, in the most common type of conscious dream, there is something that, if not exactly playful, is certainly free of the weight of real action. All this changes when the dream takes the form of a design, a purpose, which usually occurs when one gives up something for it. Here, the dream densifies, the dream already influences life and, to a certain extent, begins to materialize. It’s true, it’s true: it often remains unrealizable, or at least does not come true. That may not matter; the seriousness it takes on is enough to differentiate it from ordinary dreams and, above all, to decide.