Only I can see what I dream, only I can possess it.

All ships are dream ships as long as we are capable of dreaming them. What kills the dreamer is not living while he dreams; what wounds the man of action is not dreaming while he lives. I blended into one happy color the beauty of the world and the reality of life. You can possess a dream, but you can never possess it in the way you possess the handkerchief in your pocket, or, if you like, your own flesh. Even if you live your life engaged in full, frenetic, rumbustious activity, you cannot avoid coming into contact with others or stumbling over obstacles, however small, or feeling time passing.

To kill our dream is to kill ourselves. It is like mutilating our soul. The dream is what is most truly, impenetrably, ineradicably ours.

The Universe, Life — whether real or illusory — belongs to everyone, everyone can see what I see and possess what I possess or can, at least, imagine seeing or possessing it . . .

But only I can see what I dream, only I can possess it. And if my way of seeing the external world is different from the way others see it, that is because I cannot help but see it through whatever my dream has filled my eyes and ears with.

--- Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet