--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have…" description: "\"Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!\" — Fernando Pessoa" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg" --- # Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that… ![“Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg) > “Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!” [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker is haunted by an imagined ideal self, causing inner conflict and suffering. **In simple terms:** Longing for a possible self causes pain. Key Takeaway Accept who you are now. Themes identity longing inner conflict Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - psychological analysis Key Concepts existentialism self‑idealization Questions to Reflect On - What does your imagined self represent? - How can you honor present strengths? A Different Perspective Idealizing alternatives can stall real growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Torment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torment/) ## Related quotes > [Whoever prays is certainly saved. He who does not is certainly damned. All the blessed have been saved by prayer. All the damned have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonsus-liguori/whoever-prays-is-certainly-saved-he-who-does-not-is-certainly-damned/) [Alphonsus Liguori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonsus-liguori/) > [Faithfulness distracts me from my ever changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skin/faithfulness-distracts-me-from-my-ever-changing/) [Skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skin/) > [Having a plan B only distracts you from Plan A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-smith/having-a-plan-b-only-distracts-you-from-plan-a/) [Will Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-smith/) > [A multitude of books distracts the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/a-multitude-of-books-distracts-the-mind/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [ I suppose every time \[something bad happens\], I have that instinct to make that joke that distracts. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-waller-bridge/i-suppose-every-time-something-bad-happens-i-have-that-instinct-to/) [Phoebe Waller-Bridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-waller-bridge/) > [I know a lot of people don't listen to music when they're writing because it distracts them, but for me it's almost a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-know-a-lot-of-people-don-t-listen-to-music-when-they-re-writing/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [People like my voice and say I can sing, but I don't like microphones in front of my face: it distracts me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-worrell/people-like-my-voice-and-say-i-can-sing-but-i-don-t-like-microphones/) [Bernie Worrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-worrell/) > [The body distracts your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-adamson/the-body-distracts-your-soul/) [Peter Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-adamson/) > [“It is often the case that matters less important but more pressing distracts us from the things that press less upon us but are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galen-beckett/it-is-often-the-case-that-matters-less-important-but-more-pressing/) [Galen Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galen-beckett/) > [“The scrutiny on our bodies distracts us from what's really going on here: control. The emphasis on our appearance distracts us from the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alok-vaid-menon/the-scrutiny-on-our-bodies-distracts-us-from-what-s-really-going-on/) [Alok Vaid-Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alok-vaid-menon/) > [I think Trump has made it really hard for people to read, period. He's made it hard for me anyway. Part of his evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raymond/i-think-trump-has-made-it-really-hard-for-people-to-read-period-he-s/) [Jonathan Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raymond/) > [I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-never-look-back-darling-it-distracts-from-the-now/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I rarely listen to music while writing. I wish I could, but it distracts me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/i-rarely-listen-to-music-while-writing-i-wish-i-could-but-it/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [Outside the classroom, the use of mobile phones distracts from healthy exercise and good old-fashioned play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-williamson/outside-the-classroom-the-use-of-mobile-phones-distracts-from-healthy/) [Gavin Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-williamson/) > [To add to truth distracts from it,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-toth/to-add-to-truth-distracts-from-it/) [Alex Toth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-toth/) ## More by Fernando Pessoa > [Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-interests-me-but-nothing-holds-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“If only, I feel now, if only I could be someone able to see all this as if he had no other relation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/if-only-i-feel-now-if-only-i-could-be-someone-able-to-see-all-this-as/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [What's given, in fact, always depends on the person or thing it's given to. A minor incident in the street brings the cook to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-s-given-in-fact-always-depends-on-the-person-or-thing-it-s-given/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Smell is a strange sight. It evokes sentimental landscapes through a sudden sketching of the subconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/smell-is-a-strange-sight-it-evokes-sentimental-landscapes-through-a/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Tudo vale a pena quando a alma não é pequena”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tudo-vale-a-pena-quando-a-alma-n-o-pequena/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“no nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-nostalgia-hurts-as-much-as-nostalgia-for-things-that-never-existed/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“The feelings that hurt most, the motions that sting most, are those that are absurd; the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/the-feelings-that-hurt-most-the-motions-that-sting-most-are-those/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“I try to say what I feel Without thinking about what I feel. I try to place words right next to my idea So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-try-to-say-what-i-feel-without-thinking-about-what-i-feel-i-try-to/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Have you ever considered, beloved other, how invisible we are to each other? We look at each other without seeing. We listen to each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/have-you-ever-considered-beloved-other-how-invisible-we-are-to-each/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“To associate is to die. Only my consciousness of myself is real for me; other people are hazy phenomena in this consciousness, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/to-associate-is-to-die-only-my-consciousness-of-myself-is-real-for-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“When it comes to dreams, I’m no different from the errand boy and the seamstress. The only thing that distinguishes me from them is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/when-it-comes-to-dreams-i-m-no-different-from-the-errand-boy-and-the/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. Collective thought is stupid because it’s collective. Nothing passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-intelligent-idea-can-gain-general-acceptance-unless-some-stupidity/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Everything that surrounds us becomes part of us, it seeps into us with every experience of the flesh and of life and, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-that-surrounds-us-becomes-part-of-us-it-seeps-into-us-with/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) [Explore all 781 Fernando Pessoa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## More Longing quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/) Kevin O'Brien > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/) [Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) [Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fernando Pessoa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have-been-that-distracts-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Longing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have-been-that-distracts-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/fernando-pessoa-177_longing_ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have_2551177.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ah, it's my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!” — Fernando Pessoa", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Fernando Pessoa", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ah, it's my longing for whom...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have-been-that-distracts-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/ah-it-s-my-longing-for-whom-i-might-have-been-that-distracts-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```