--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to…" description: "\"“Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to want without desire, to think without reason … It’s like being possessed by a negative demon,”\" — Fernando Pe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg" --- # Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to want without… ![“Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to want without desire, to think without reason … It’s like being possessed by a negative demon,” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg) > ““Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to want without desire, to think without reason … It’s like being possessed by a negative demon,”” [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. Enduring life’s paradoxes without emotional attachment feels like being haunted by a negative force. **In simple terms:** Living without feeling is like a haunting. Key Takeaway Accept emotions, don’t suppress them. Themes existentialism psychology paradox inner conflict Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal introspection - mental health coping - spiritual practice Key Concepts detachment negative energy self‑awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when you’re merely “suffering without suffering”? - What does “negative demon” represent for you? A Different Perspective Suppressing feelings can lead to numbness and loss of authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Tedium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tedium/) ## Related quotes > [I've reached the point where tedium is a person, the incarnate fiction of my own company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-ve-reached-the-point-where-tedium-is-a-person-the-incarnate-fiction/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“A tedium that includes the expectation of nothing but more tedium; a regret, right now, for the regret I’ll have tomorrow for having felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/a-tedium-that-includes-the-expectation-of-nothing-but-more-tedium-a/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Pain is suffering because we want to be free of it, and pleasure is suffering because we fear to lose it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-staveley/pain-is-suffering-because-we-want-to-be-free-of-it-and-pleasure-is/) [Brian Staveley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-staveley/) > [“Suffering and want are no longer confined to distant, disadvantaged parts of the globe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/suffering-and-want-are-no-longer-confined-to-distant-disadvantaged/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The doctors are all agreed that I am suffering for want of society. Was never a case like it. First, I did not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-doctors-are-all-agreed-that-i-am-suffering-for-want-of-society/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I did not know that mankind was suffering for want of gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-did-not-know-that-mankind-was-suffering-for-want-of-gold/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Pain? He could handle that, no problem; it was the idea that the female he loved was suffering that made him want to either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/pain-he-could-handle-that-no-problem-it-was-the-idea-that-the-female/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That's why I want to speak to you now. To say: no person, trying to take responsibility for her or his identity, should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/that-s-why-i-want-to-speak-to-you-now-to-say-no-person-trying-to-take/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [In a world of war, pain and suffering, all I want for Christmas is an underwater watch and a silver clutch rod for my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/in-a-world-of-war-pain-and-suffering-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-an/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [Anywhere I see suffering, that is where I want to be, doing what I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-diana/anywhere-i-see-suffering-that-is-where-i-want-to-be-doing-what-i-can/) [Princess Diana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-diana/) > [“The question is: do you want suffering or do you want peace? It's that simple.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-goddard/the-question-is-do-you-want-suffering-or-do-you-want-peace-it-s-that/) [Donna Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-goddard/) > [“I'm not interested in heaven unless my anger gets to go there too. I'm not interested in a happy eternity unless I get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-lockwood/i-m-not-interested-in-heaven-unless-my-anger-gets-to-go-there-too-i-m/) [Patricia Lockwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-lockwood/) > [“I knew then why I had to suffer. The older we get, the more reasons God gives us to seek His comfort. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mcgahan/i-knew-then-why-i-had-to-suffer-the-older-we-get-the-more-reasons-god/) [Kate McGahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mcgahan/) > [Jewish people, we don't believe in Hell or a future place to suffer. We're suffering right now. Every one of our holidays celebrates how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-kindler/jewish-people-we-don-t-believe-in-hell-or-a-future-place-to-suffer-we/) [Andy Kindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-kindler/) > [The artist doesn't have to suffer to show suffering. Have it on the screen but have the people come out of the theater into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/the-artist-doesn-t-have-to-suffer-to-show-suffering-have-it-on-the/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) ## 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 Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to want without desire, to think without reason … It’s like being possessed by a negative demon,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fernando Pessoa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-want-without-desire-to-think/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-want-without-desire-to-think/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/fernando-pessoa-177_desire_tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-wa_2883300.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Tedium … To suffer without suffering, to want without desire, to think without reason … It’s like being…” — 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": "“Tedium … To suffer without suffering,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-want-without-desire-to-think/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tedium-to-suffer-without-suffering-to-want-without-desire-to-think/#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 } } ] } ```