Se ainda o faço, é porque não sei fazer outra coisa

Madison, 16 de Novembro de 1969

Querida Sophia

(...) Mas o gosto de trabalhar e de publicar, perdi por completo - para quê? Se ainda o faço, é porque não sei fazer outra coisa. (...)

Jorge

in Correspondência Jorge de Sena e Sophia de Mello Breyner 1959-1978

com organização de Mécia de Sena e Maria Andresen de Sousa Tavares

But Wise Men Perceive Approaching Things

Because gods perceive future things, men what is happening now,
  but wise men perceive approaching things.

    Philostratus , Life of Apollonius of Tyana, VIII, 7.

Men know what is happening now.
The gods know the things of the future,
the full and sole possessors of all lights.
Of the future things, wise men perceive
approaching things. Their hearing

is sometimes, during serious studies,
disturbed. The mystical clamor
of approaching events reaches them.
And they heed it with reverence. While outside
on the street, the peoples hear nothing at all.

Poema But Wise Men Perceive Approaching Things

in The Complete Poems de C. P. Cavafy