--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I…" description: "\"“Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I categorically abhor them.”\" — Fernando Pessoa" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg" --- # Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I categorically… ![“Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I categorically abhor them.” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg) > ““Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I categorically abhor them.”” [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. Good deeds are seen as burdens, leading the speaker to reject them outright. **In simple terms:** Views good deeds as burdens. Key Takeaway Question the motives behind helping others. Themes morality burdens philosophy Mood critical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - volunteer work - charitable giving - personal relationships Key Concepts altruism ethical dilemmas personal values Questions to Reflect On - Why do you view helping as an imposition? - Can you find a balanced approach? A Different Perspective Rejecting good deeds can limit personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Categorically Abhor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/categorically-abhor-2179991/) [Deeds Impositions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds-impositions-2179992/) [Good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-deeds/) [Impositions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impositions-2179994/) [Impositions Categorically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impositions-categorically-2179993/) ## Related quotes > [We do not accept impositions and we are not willing to make concessions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-diaz-canel/we-do-not-accept-impositions-and-we-are-not-willing-to-make/) [Miguel Diaz-Canel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-diaz-canel/) > [“Perhaps we all reappear, perhaps all our lives are impositions one on another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/perhaps-we-all-reappear-perhaps-all-our-lives-are-impositions-one-on/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Maybe "warehouses" equals "mothers", a wide margin of error is permissible when you're dealing with super-impositions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/maybe-warehouses-equals-mothers-a-wide-margin-of-error-is-permissible/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“I have a very simple morality: not to do good or evil to anyone. Not to do evil, because it seems only fair that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-have-a-very-simple-morality-not-to-do-good-or-evil-to-anyone-not-to/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Every time you do a good deed you shine the light a little farther into the dark. And the thing is, when you're gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-lint/every-time-you-do-a-good-deed-you-shine-the-light-a-little-farther/) [Charles de Lint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-lint/) > [We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/we-are-not-to-preach-the-doing-of-good-things-good-deeds-are-not-to/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [One mistake can wash out your thousands of good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-demdam/one-mistake-can-wash-out-your-thousands-of-good-deeds/) [Catherine Demdam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-demdam/) > [“What is the present if not the graveyard of the past where, for each of our deeds we dig a grave. Everything we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mladen-or-evi/what-is-the-present-if-not-the-graveyard-of-the-past-where-for-each/) [Mladen Đorđević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mladen-or-evi/) > [The church is never a place to show off. Do your good deeds quietly. Serve; don't seek to be seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/the-church-is-never-a-place-to-show-off-do-your-good-deeds-quietly/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/our-soul-is-a-spark-of-the-divine-it-is-pure-and-perfect-evil-deeds/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [“What if I believed that God Himself was the One who decreed I would be a quiet person? What if I believed that God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-rajnus/what-if-i-believed-that-god-himself-was-the-one-who-decreed-i-would/) [Julie Rajnus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-rajnus/) ## 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 Good deeds quotes > [“What if I believed that God Himself was the One who decreed I would be a quiet person? What if I believed that God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-rajnus/what-if-i-believed-that-god-himself-was-the-one-who-decreed-i-would/) [Julie Rajnus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-rajnus/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/our-soul-is-a-spark-of-the-divine-it-is-pure-and-perfect-evil-deeds/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The church is never a place to show off. Do your good deeds quietly. Serve; don't seek to be seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/the-church-is-never-a-place-to-show-off-do-your-good-deeds-quietly/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“What is the present if not the graveyard of the past where, for each of our deeds we dig a grave. Everything we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mladen-or-evi/what-is-the-present-if-not-the-graveyard-of-the-past-where-for-each/) [Mladen Đorđević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mladen-or-evi/) > [One mistake can wash out your thousands of good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-demdam/one-mistake-can-wash-out-your-thousands-of-good-deeds/) [Catherine Demdam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-demdam/) > [We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/we-are-not-to-preach-the-doing-of-good-things-good-deeds-are-not-to/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [Every time you do a good deed you shine the light a little farther into the dark. And the thing is, when you're gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-lint/every-time-you-do-a-good-deed-you-shine-the-light-a-little-farther/) [Charles de Lint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-lint/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Steal a chicken if you get a chance, Huck, because if you don't want it, someone else does and a good deed ain't never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/steal-a-chicken-if-you-get-a-chance-huck-because-if-you-don-t-want-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [True value lies in the good deeds that you put forward for the Hereafter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmad-bashir/true-value-lies-in-the-good-deeds-that-you-put-forward-for-the/) [Ahmad Bashir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmad-bashir/) > [Verily the kindness that gazes upon itself in a mirror turns to stone, and a good deed that calls itself by tender names becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/verily-the-kindness-that-gazes-upon-itself-in-a-mirror-turns-to-stone/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Let a good person do good deeds with the same zeal that an evil person does bad ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sholom-rokeach/let-a-good-person-do-good-deeds-with-the-same-zeal-that-an-evil/) [Sholom Rokeach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sholom-rokeach/) [Browse all 533 Good deeds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-deeds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I categorically abhor them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fernando Pessoa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i-categorically-abhor-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Good deeds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i-categorically-abhor-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c29/fernando-pessoa-177_good-deeds_good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i_1819253.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Good deeds are impositions; that’s why I categorically abhor them.” — 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": "“Good deeds are impositions; that’s why...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i-categorically-abhor-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/good-deeds-are-impositions-that-s-why-i-categorically-abhor-them/#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 } } ] } ```