--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It sometimes occurs to me, with sad…" description: "\"“It sometimes occurs to me, with sad delight, that if one day (in a future I won’t be part of) the sentences I write are read and admired, then at last..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/fernando-pessoa-177_dead-man_it-sometimes-occurs-to-me-with-sad-delig_1134531.jpg" --- # It sometimes occurs to me, with sad delight, that if one… ![“It sometimes occurs to me, with sad delight, that if one day (in a future I won’t be part of) the sentences I write are read and admired, then at last I’ll have my own kin, people who ‘understand’ me, my true family in which to be born and loved. But far from being born into it, I’ll have already…” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/fernando-pessoa-177_dead-man_it-sometimes-occurs-to-me-with-sad-delig_1134531.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/fernando-pessoa-177_dead-man_it-sometimes-occurs-to-me-with-sad-delig_1134531.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/fernando-pessoa-177_dead-man_it-sometimes-occurs-to-me-with-sad-delig_1134531.jpg) > ““It sometimes occurs to me, with sad delight, that if one day (in a future I won’t be part of) the sentences I write are read and admired, then at last I’ll have my own kin, people who ‘understand’ me, my true family in which to be born and loved. But far from being born into it, I’ll have already died long ago. I’ll be understood only in effigy, when affection can no longer compensate for the indifference that was the dead man’s lot in life.”” [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 writer fears posthumous recognition, feeling that true understanding and belonging will only come after death, when personal connection is impossible. **In simple terms:** Being understood only after death. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful connections now. Themes loneliness legacy understanding Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - personal relationships - artistic legacy Key Concepts existentialism posthumous fame Questions to Reflect On - How do you value posthumous fame? - Can art replace personal connection? A Different Perspective Recognition may be hollow without lived relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dead man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-man/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [True family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-family/) ## Related quotes > [I sometimes think, with a sad delight, that if one day, in a future I no longer belong to, these sentences, that I write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-sometimes-think-with-a-sad-delight-that-if-one-day-in-a-future-i-no/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Indifference is the dead weight of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/indifference-is-the-dead-weight-of-history/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [“How does one go on after doing such unspeakable things? It's all rather simple, really," he continued, speaking in someone else's voice. "Say to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melika-dannese-lux/how-does-one-go-on-after-doing-such-unspeakable-things-it-s-all/) [Melika Dannese Lux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melika-dannese-lux/) > [What is true of the individual will be true of the whole family; what is true of the family will be true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/what-is-true-of-the-individual-will-be-true-of-the-whole-family-what/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) > [The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each others life. Rarely do members…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-bond-that-links-your-true-family-is-not-one-of-blood-but-of-2/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Be sure to incorporate your pooch into your daily activities to make her feel like a true family member. You can do this by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-jillson/be-sure-to-incorporate-your-pooch-into-your-daily-activities-to-make/) Joyce Jillson > [“What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/what-is-family-they-were-the-people-who-claimed-you-in-good-in-bad-in-3/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“Perspective - Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/perspective-use-it-or-lose-it-if-you-turned-to-this-page-you-re-2/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Be true to who you are and the family name you bare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/be-true-to-who-you-are-and-the-family-name-you-bare/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [Believe in God. Believe in Love. Believe in true family and friends and most importantly, believe in yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/believe-in-god-believe-in-love-believe-in-true-family-and-friends-and/) Enhance Dreams > [True family will always be there to catch your fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-family-will-always-be-there-to-catch-your-fall/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Numerous New Testament passages teach that we need to forsake our allegiance to our original family and become adopted by God (Matt. 23:9). God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/numerous-new-testament-passages-teach-that-we-need-to-forsake-our/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [“Neptune rose and Neptune set in the skylight above. Kalsang's tears collected on his cheeks and evaporated in a steady cycle. He sat for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-winburn/neptune-rose-and-neptune-set-in-the-skylight-above-kalsang-s-tears/) Samuel Winburn > [I think that is a great, great thing, to create your own identity and foster a true family spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddy-de-clercq/i-think-that-is-a-great-great-thing-to-create-your-own-identity-and/) [Eddy de Clercq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddy-de-clercq/) > [The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-bond-that-links-your-true-family-is-not-one-of-blood-but-of/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) ## 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 Dead man quotes > [Those old hypocrites. They talk about killing witches but the Good Book’s full of magic. Turning the Nile to blood and parting the Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/those-old-hypocrites-they-talk-about-killing-witches-but-the-good/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [“A thousand times a coward and not once a dead man”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suad-amiry/a-thousand-times-a-coward-and-not-once-a-dead-man/) Suad Amiry > [“I cocked my eyebrow at her. "Are you kidding me, Clare?" I indicated to the dead man on the broken pine table. "There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-morgan/i-cocked-my-eyebrow-at-her-are-you-kidding-me-clare-i-indicated-to/) [Elizabeth Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-morgan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I think I probably have the philosophy of a poor man. You know, like maybe I'd steal the pennies off a dead man's eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassavetes/i-think-i-probably-have-the-philosophy-of-a-poor-man-you-know-like/) [John Cassavetes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassavetes/) > [“Dead man, listen well. The Great Keep is not like the Otherworld. The Great Keep has many names. To the Norse it is Valhalla,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/dead-man-listen-well-the-great-keep-is-not-like-the-otherworld-the/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [Dead men tell no tales, Mary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dead-men-tell-no-tales-mary/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what i really need is a dead man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/what-i-really-need-is-a-dead-man/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [And he that will this health deny, down among the dead men let him lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer/and-he-that-will-this-health-deny-down-among-the-dead-men-let-him-lie/) [John Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer/) > [“Death Valley is the perfect flesh-grilling device, the Foreman Grill in Mother Nature’s cupboard. It’s a big, shimmering sea of salt ringed by mountains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/death-valley-is-the-perfect-flesh-grilling-device-the-foreman-grill/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [We're here for such a short period of time. Live like you're already dead, man. Have a good time. Do your best. Let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bridges/we-re-here-for-such-a-short-period-of-time-live-like-you-re-already/) [Jeff Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bridges/) > [For my own part, I would rather be in company with a dead man than with an absent one; for if the dead man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-my-own-part-i-would-rather-be-in-company-with-a-dead-man-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Victor ignored him and reached inside the dead man’s jacket, searching unsuccessfully for a wallet. He went to take the man’s radio receiver, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wood/victor-ignored-him-and-reached-inside-the-dead-man-s-jacket-searching/) [Tom Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wood/) > [“People had always amazed him, he began. But they amazed him more since the sickness. For as long as the two of them had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/people-had-always-amazed-him-he-began-but-they-amazed-him-more-since/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [How can so much beauty hide such a bruised and steely heart, and why must I love him, why must I lean in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/how-can-so-much-beauty-hide-such-a-bruised-and-steely-heart-and-why/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 490 Dead man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It sometimes occurs to me, with sad delight, that if one day (in a future I won’t be part of) the sentences I write are read and admired, then at last I’ll have my own kin, people who ‘understand’ me, my true family in which to be born and loved. But far from being born into it, I’ll have already died long ago. 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