Motivation is shameless.

Margins

Poems, fragments, and sentences to spend some time with.

Aphorism

There are no norms. All people are exceptions to a rule that doesn’t exist.

— Fernando Pessoa

Aforismos e Afins

In The Margin

We spend a surprising amount of time wondering whether we are normal. Pessoa unsettles the comparison itself. If everyone is an exception, who supplied the rule? The sentence leaves us with a quieter question: how much of our discomfort comes from measuring ourselves against someone who has never existed?

Source & Translation

Portuguese text verified in Aforismos e Afins, edited by Richard Zenith. The edition identifies the manuscript reference as 75A/22. (opens in a new tab)

English wording: translator unverified.