The Book of Disquiet

The Book of Disquiet is a collection of philosophical observations, mostly praising the beauty of small everyday experiences, as well as a life of tranquility and presence. Fernando Pessoa's overall philosophy is digestible but rarely trite. Here are a few of the many enchanting passages:

I see life as a roadside inn where I have to stay until the coach from the abyss pulls up. I don’t know where it will take me, because I don’t know anything. I could see this inn as a prison, for I’m compelled to wait in it; I could see it as a social center, for it’s here that I meet others.

[...]

There’s a thin sheet of glass between me and life. However clearly I see and understand life, I can’t touch it.

[...]

My soul is impatient with itself, as with a bothersome child; its restlessness keeps growing and is forever the same. Everything interests me, but nothing holds me. I attend to everything, dreaming all the while... I’m two, and both keep their distance — Siamese twins that aren’t attached.

[...]

I’ve never done anything but dream. This, and this alone, has been the meaning of my life. My only real concern has been my inner life.When all by myself, I can think of all kinds of clever remarks, quick comebacks to what no one said, and flashes of witty sociability with nobody. But all of this vanishes when I face someone in the flesh: I lose my intelligence, I can no longer speak, and after half an hour I just feel tired. Talking to people makes me feel like sleeping. Only my ghostly and imaginary friends, only the conversations I have in my dreams, are genuinely real and substantial.

Highly recommended.