The king is dead, long live the king! Ben Franklin said that some people die at age 25 and aren’t buried until they are 75. Jim, on the contrary, was buried at age 27 yet his legend lives on. You may know Jim Morrison as the lead vocalist of The Doors, a historical figure, or a rock’n’roll icon. I know him as a poet. “Riders … Continue reading Poetry as an Act of Freedom | Jim Morrison in Paris | Art of Saudade
Can a writer leave his mark on an entire city? An unconditional lover of the awe-inspiring Portuguese capital, Fernando Pessoa’s presence still guides us through the narrow streets of Chiado, the shady squares of Bairro Alto, and the most notable monuments, such as the Belém Tower. If you trust Pessoa’s bohemian spirit, you absolutely need to read Lisbon – What the Tourist Should See before … Continue reading Lisbon Seen Through The Eyes Of Fernando Pessoa | Art of Saudade
During those hours when the landscape forms a halo around Life, and dream is simply a matter of dreaming oneself, I created, O my love, in the silence of my disquiet, this strange book like a series of arches opening up at the end of some abandoned avenue. Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet To write is to live. To dream is to find yourself. … Continue reading Best Of – Fernando Pessoa’s Thoughts on Life, Dreams, and Love | Art of Saudade
Silence is golden. Imagine how many conflicts could have been avoided if we remained silent. Now think about the good decision you could have made if you chose to take your time and consider it in silence. Silence gives answers. – Rumi All the words sharper than knives could simply be replaced with… silence. Let silence take you to the core of life. – Rumi … Continue reading The Power of Silence | Confucius and Rumi Quotes That Still Resonate Today | Art of Saudade
They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. Psalm 115:5-8 Dystopia is one … Continue reading When Dystopia Makes You Cherish Your Life | Blindness by José Saramago | Art of Saudade
“I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel…” Che Guevara “This young adventurer, endowed with a thirst for knowledge and a great capacity to love, shows us how reality, if well interpreted, can move a man to the point of changing his way of thinking.”, says Che’s daughter Aleida Guevara March in the preface to The … Continue reading More than a hero… a writer! | The Travels of Ernesto Che Guevara | Art of Saudade
Why do some language learners reach fluency faster than others? How come some people can learn more languages than others? Is there such a thing as an “innate ability” for learning foreign languages? Kató Lomb, the most multilingual woman in the 20th century, debunked all the myths about learning languages in her book Polyglot: How I Learn Languages. Born in 1909, in Hungary, she only … Continue reading How Do Polyglots Learn So Many Languages? | The Story Of Kató Lomb | Art of Saudade
Lockdown, transmission, and quarantine are some of the words that have been part of our daily vocabulary for the past two years. These same words can be found in Camus’ philosophical novel The Plague. Published only two years after the Second World War, many literary critics believe that the plague symbolizes the battle against Nazism. However, digging into the book, it is easy to conclude … Continue reading Did Albert Camus Really Predict The Pandemic? | Art of Saudade
If life in the Middle Ages was rough, imagine being a speaker of a regional language in 20th century France, when the government banned the use of minority languages. For Occitan poets, the struggle to preserve their authentic language and culture only got harder. The Occitan language is a Romance language spoken in Southern France. However, it has no official status in France. In the … Continue reading Writing Poetry In A Minority Language: The Story Of The Occitan Poets | Art of Saudade
“Hey, write something about the French elections!” How do I get political without getting political? By doing what the 18th-century French philosophers did, I guess… use extra irony and turn everything into satire. One of the masters of irony during the Age of Enlightenment was Voltaire. In 1759, he wrote the biggest parody of his time – Candide, where he criticized every rotten detail of … Continue reading Candide and Martin in 2022 | Art of Saudade
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