Yesterday my dear friend Bernd sent a poem of Mario de Andrade (see the German text further down). I like this poem very much and have it as one of my life philosophies for many many years. You might know it or heard about it too. If not, I am going to share it with you down here in German and English (original is in Portuguese).

Brazilian author and lecturer Mario de Andrade.

Die wertvolle Zeit der Reife.

„Meine Seele hat es eilig.
Ich habe meine Jahre gezählt und festgestellt, dass ich weniger Zeit habe, zu leben, als ich bisher gelebt habe.

Ich fühle mich wie dieses Kind, das eine Schachtel Bonbons gewonnen hat: Die ersten isst es mit Vergnügen, aber als es merkt, dass nur noch wenige übrig waren, begann es, sie wirklich zu genießen.

Ich habe keine Zeit für endlose Konferenzen, bei denen die Statuten, Regeln, Verfahren und internen Vorschriften besprochen werden, in dem Wissen, dass nichts erreicht wird.
Ich habe keine Zeit mehr, absurde Menschen zu ertragen, die ungeachtet ihres Alters nicht gewachsen sind.

Ich habe keine Zeit mehr, mit Mittelmäßigkeit zu kämpfen.
Ich will nicht in Besprechungen sein, in denen aufgeblasene Egos aufmarschieren.
Ich vertrage keine Manipulierer und Opportunisten.

Mich stören die Neider, die versuchen, Fähigere in Verruf zu bringen um sich ihrer Positionen, Talente und Erfolge zu bemächtigen.
Meine Zeit ist zu kurz um Überschriften zu diskutieren. Ich will das Wesentliche, denn meine Seele ist in Eile. Ohne viele Süßigkeiten in der Packung.

Ich möchte mit Menschen leben, die sehr menschlich sind. Menschen, die über ihre Fehler lachen können, die sich nichts auf ihre Erfolge einbilden. Die sich nicht vorzeitig berufen fühlen und die nicht vor ihrer Verantwortung fliehen. Die die menschliche Würde verteidigen und die nur an der Seite der Wahrheit und Rechtschaffenheit gehen möchten. Es ist das, was das Leben lebenswert macht.

Ich möchte mich mit Menschen umgeben, die es verstehen, die Herzen anderer zu berühren. Menschen, die durch die harten Schläge des Lebens lernten, durch sanfte Berührungen der Seele zu wachsen.

Ja, ich habe es eilig, ich habe es eilig, mit der Intensität zu leben, die nur die Reife geben kann.
Ich versuche, keine der Süßigkeiten, die mir noch bleiben, zu verschwenden. Ich bin mir sicher, dass sie köstlicher sein werden, als die, die ich bereits gegessen habe.

Mein Ziel ist es, das Ende zufrieden zu erreichen, in Frieden mit mir, meinen Lieben und meinem Gewissen.

Wir haben zwei Leben und das zweite beginnt, wenn du erkennst, dass du nur eins hast.“

Bibliotheca Mario de Andrade in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Notesheet of „cartas de modernismo“ , as well as the entry picture far above, by  Mario de Andrade. Pics by bol.uol.br.

The Valuable Time of Maturity.

„I counted my years and discovered that I have
less time to live going forward than I have lived until now.
I have more past than future.

I feel like the boy who received a bowl of candies.
The first ones, he ate ungracious,
but when he realized there were only a few left,
he began to taste them deeply.

I do not have time to deal with mediocrity.
I do not want to be in meetings where parade inflamed egos.
I am bothered by the envious, who seek to discredit
the most able, to usurp their places,
coveting their seats, talent, achievements and luck.

I do not have time for endless conversations,
useless to discuss about the lives of others
who are not part of mine.

I do not have time to manage sensitivities of people
who despite their chronological age, are immature.
I cannot stand the result that generates
from those struggling for power.

People do not discuss content, only the labels.
My time has become scarce to discuss labels,
I want the essence, my soul is in a hurry…
Not many candies in the bowl…

I want to live close to human people,
very human, who laugh of their own stumbles,
and away from those turned smug and overconfident
with their triumphs,
Away from those filled with self-importance,
who does not run away from their responsibilities ..
who defends human dignity.
And who only want to walk on the side of truth
and honesty.
The essential is what makes life worthwhile.

I want to surround myself with people,
who knows how to touch the hearts of people ….
People to whom the hard knocks of life,
taught them to grow with softness in their soul.

Yes …. I am in a hurry … to live with intensity,
that only maturity can bring.
I intend not to waste any part of the goodies
I have left, I’m sure they will be more exquisite,
that most of which so far I’ve eaten.

My goal is to arrive to the end satisfied and in peace
with my loved ones and my conscience.
I hope that your goal is the same,
because either way you will get there too .“

Who was Mario de Andrade ?

Born: October 09, 1893
Died: February 25, 1945
Genre: Romance, Literature, Fiction, Music

Mario Raul de Morais Andrade was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. One of the founders of Brazilian modernism, he virtually created modern Brazilian poetry with the publication of his „Pauliceia Desvairada“ (Hallucinated City) in 1922.

He has had an enormous influence on Brazilian literature in the 20th and 21st centuries, and as a scholar and essayist. He was a pioneer of the field of ethnomusicology. His influence has reached far beyond Brazil.

Andrade was the central figure in the avant-garde movement of Sao Paulo for twenty years. Trained as a musician and best known as a poet and novelist, Andrade was personally involved in virtually every discipline that was connected with Sao Paulo modernism, and became Brazil’s national polymath.

A phantastic novel, world literature, a must read.

He was the driving force behind the Week of Modern Art, the 1922 event that reshaped both literature and the visual arts in Brazil. After working as a music professor and newspaper columnist he published his great novel, Macunaima, in 1928. At the end of his life, he became the founding director of Sao Paulo’s Department of Culture, formalizing a role he had long held as the catalyst of the city’s, and the nation’s, entry into artistic modernity.

Macunaima was 1969 presented as a 108 minute movie.

Some of Mario de Andrade Poems:

The Valuable Time of Maturity
The Mountains of Rolling-Girl
Variation On The Bad Friend
Mother My life is one to-day
Mother Mothers have existed
The Girl And The Goat
From Poemas Of The Woman

Some books and Andrade on a Brazilian banknote.

My personal conclusion:  Time is Life, don’t let anyone steal parts of your life !