Thinking is being sick in the eyes.
Genuine
Yes. In The Keeper of Sheep (1925), O Guardador de Rebanhos, poem beginning “O meu olhar é nítido como um girassol”, stanza beginning “O mundo não se fez”, said by Alberto Caeiro. 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.
- Work
- The Keeper of Sheep (O Guardador de Rebanhos), 1925
- Where
- O Guardador de Rebanhos, poem beginning “O meu olhar é nítido como um girassol”, stanza beginning “O mundo não se fez”
- Found at
- Paragraph 16 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
Porque pensar é não compreender
O mundo não se fez para pensarmos nele
(Pensar é estar doente dos olhos)
Mas para olharmos para ele e estarmos de acordo...1
Eu não tenho filosofia, tenho sentidos...
Se falo na natureza não é porque a amo, amo-a por isso,
The world was not made for us to think about it (thinking is being sick in the eyes), but for us to look at it and be in accord with it...
The scene
Alberto Caeiro describes walking the roads and receiving the world with a child’s fresh astonishment. After saying that he believes in the world because he sees it, he contrasts looking with thinking about what is seen. The poem then declares that he has senses rather than a philosophy and ends by connecting innocence with not thinking.
What it means
For this persona, abstract thought interferes with the direct perception of things, like an illness that prevents clear sight.
Often misread
Not a medical claim or a blanket recommendation from Pessoa to abandon reason. It is a deliberately paradoxical claim by Caeiro, the sensory, anti-metaphysical voice among Pessoa’s heteronyms.
Topics
Related quotes
- The only hidden meaning of things is that they have no hidden meaning.
- The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. (misattributed) Albert Einstein
- There is more sagacity in thy body than in thy best wisdom. (paraphrase) Friedrich Nietzsche
- I am the size of what I see, not the size of my height.
- The musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra. (misattributed) Steve Jobs
Sources
Cite it
Fernando Pessoa, The Keeper of Sheep (1925), O Guardador de Rebanhos, poem beginning “O meu olhar é nítido como um girassol”, stanza beginning “O mundo não se fez”, our own translation. Spoken by Alberto Caeiro. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/thinking-is-being-sick-in-the-eyes/ (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