--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To understand, I destroyed myself. To…" description: "\"“To understand, I destroyed myself. To understand is to forget about loving. I know nothing more simultaneously false and telling than the statement by..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/fernando-pessoa-177_destruction_to-understand-i-destroyed-myself-to-unde_2719188.jpg" --- # To understand, I destroyed myself. To understand is to… ![“To understand, I destroyed myself. To understand is to forget about loving. I know nothing more simultaneously false and telling than the statement by Leonardo da Vinci that we cannot love or hate something until we’ve understood it.” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/fernando-pessoa-177_destruction_to-understand-i-destroyed-myself-to-unde_2719188.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/fernando-pessoa-177_destruction_to-understand-i-destroyed-myself-to-unde_2719188.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/fernando-pessoa-177_destruction_to-understand-i-destroyed-myself-to-unde_2719188.jpg) > ““To understand, I destroyed myself. To understand is to forget about loving. I know nothing more simultaneously false and telling than the statement by Leonardo da Vinci that we cannot love or hate something until we’ve understood it.”” [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. Understanding destroys self, love and hate require ignorance, not comprehension. **In simple terms:** Understanding erodes love. Key Takeaway Balance knowledge and feeling. Themes knowledge love ignorance paradox Mood melancholic introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - self‑reflection - artistic creation Key Concepts existentialism self‑destruction Questions to Reflect On - Is ignorance truly bliss? - How does self‑destruction aid insight? A Different Perspective Complete understanding can be isolating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/da-vinci/) [Destroyed Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed-understand-2868033/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Forget Loving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-loving-727801/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Leonardo Da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leonardo-da-vinci/) [Leonardo-da-vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leonardo-da-vinci-2/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love or hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-or-hate/) [Statement Leonardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statement-leonardo-2868032/) [Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand/) [Understand Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-destroyed-1134025/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [In order to understand, I destroyed myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/in-order-to-understand-i-destroyed-myself/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“...the most sublime of oddballs, Leonardo da Vinci”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/the-most-sublime-of-oddballs-leonardo-da-vinci/) [Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/) > [“Don’t say you don’t have enough time or enough money to change the world. 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After the long times of loving,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laine/forgetting-the-feelings-that-you-have-for-someone-is-one-of-the/) [Laine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laine/) > [“LOVING SOMEONE IS NOT TOUGH BUT THE REAL COURAGE IS, TO FORGET YOUR LOVING ONE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-tiwari/loving-someone-is-not-tough-but-the-real-courage-is-to-forget-your/) [Anuj Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-tiwari/) > [Don't remember how I met her, but I know I won't forget her. And if loving her is wrong then I just know I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wale/don-t-remember-how-i-met-her-but-i-know-i-won-t-forget-her-and-if/) [Wale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wale/) > [Dont remember how I met her but I know I wont forget her. If loving her is wrong then I just know I wont…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wale/dont-remember-how-i-met-her-but-i-know-i-wont-forget-her-if-loving/) [Wale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wale/) > [Wanting her is hard to forget, loving her is hard to regret, losing her is hard to accept, but letting go is the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wanting-her-is-hard-to-forget-loving-her-is-hard-to-regret-losing-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing should be so greatly feared as empty fame.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/nothing-should-be-so-greatly-feared-as-empty-fame/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [“I peered at his writing, but I could make nothing of it. Then I saw why, and my soul chilled like marble. His writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-breslin/i-peered-at-his-writing-but-i-could-make-nothing-of-it-then-i-saw-why/) [Theresa Breslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-breslin/) > [“There is nothing in man or nature that does not ask questions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-bill-pepper/there-is-nothing-in-man-or-nature-that-does-not-ask-questions/) [Curtis Bill Pepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-bill-pepper/) > [“The Maestro spoke again. "When we are not, at what point do we become?" I could not reply. For I had grasped no shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-breslin/the-maestro-spoke-again-when-we-are-not-at-what-point-do-we-become-i/) [Theresa Breslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-breslin/) ## 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. 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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 Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) [Atiq Rahimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atiq-rahimi/) [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To understand, I destroyed myself. To understand is to forget about loving. 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