There is no metaphysics in the world but chocolates.
Genuine
Yes. In Tobacco Shop (1933), Tabacaria, parenthetical passage beginning “Come chocolates, pequena”, lines beginning “Olha que não há mais metafísica” through “Pudesse eu comer chocolates”, said by Álvaro de Campos. These are the character’s words, not a statement in Pessoa’s own voice.
Found word for word by program in the Portuguese original.
The English is our own translation, not yet reviewed: there is no public-domain translation of this text in our sources.
The wording people share differs slightly from the text; the words in the text are underlined below.
- Work
- Tobacco Shop (Tabacaria), 1933
- Where
- Tabacaria, parenthetical passage beginning “Come chocolates, pequena”, lines beginning “Olha que não há mais metafísica” through “Pudesse eu comer chocolates”
- Found at
- Paragraph 74 of the Portuguese text
- Translation
- Our own, not yet reviewed (no public-domain translation in our sources)
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
Come chocolates!
Olha que não há mais metafísica no mundo senão chocolates.1
Olha que as religiões todas não ensinam mais que a confeitaria.
Come, pequena suja, come!
Pudesse eu comer chocolates com a mesma verdade com que comes!
Mas eu penso e, ao tirar o papel de prata, que é de folha de estanho,
Deito tudo para o chão, como tenho deitado a vida.)
Look, there is no metaphysics in the world except chocolates. Look, all the religions teach no more than the sweet shop. Eat, dirty little girl, eat! If only I could eat chocolates with the same truth with which you eat!
The scene
Álvaro de Campos turns from reflections on failed possibilities to a little girl eating chocolates. He urges her to eat and envies the unreflective truth of her enjoyment. Immediately afterwards, he says that he thinks, and throws the wrapping to the ground as he has thrown away his life.
What it means
Simple bodily enjoyment seems more real than abstract speculation, but the speaker cannot reach the child’s directness because he keeps thinking.
Often misread
Used as a cheerful instruction to enjoy sweets, it loses the speaker’s envy and inability to enjoy them with the same immediacy. The statement is Campos’s troubled aside, not a simple declaration that Pessoa was against philosophy.
Topics
Related quotes
- I have within me all the dreams of the world.
- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost
- I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. (not found) Steve Jobs
- Though I may not believe in the order of the universe, yet I love the sticky little leaves as they open in spring. I love the blue sky. Fyodor Dostoevsky
- There is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock. Charles Bukowski
Sources
Cite it
Fernando Pessoa, Tobacco Shop (1933), Tabacaria, parenthetical passage beginning “Come chocolates, pequena”, lines beginning “Olha que não há mais metafísica” through “Pudesse eu comer chocolates”, our own translation. Spoken by Álvaro de Campos. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/no-metaphysics-in-the-world-but-chocolates/ (31 October 2026).
Have a different wording, or a source we missed? Check it or submit it.
Do you hold the rights to anything on this page? Tell us.
Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
Comments