on advice
To give good advice is to disdain the faculty of erring that God gave to others. Not only that, we should be glad that other people don’t act like us. It makes sense only to ask for advice from others, so that we can be sure - by doing just the opposite - that we are totally ourselves, in complete disagreement with all Otherness.
fernando pessoa
the book of disquiet
September 29th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
But if you define yourself in opposition, in ‘complete disagreement with all otherness’, you are still defining yourself derivatively in terms of that otherness, and therefore not being yourself… Unless your particular self happens to be solely defined by its contradictive nature… What i love about Fernando is how much folly he mixes in with the wisdom. He’s the most unreliable narrator ever; You really have to pay attention. He’s an infuriating pain in the ass!