# Carlos Drummond de Andrade's most famous lines

From the stone in the middle of the road to "And now, José?" and the crooked angel who told Carlos to be gauche in life: the lines by Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987) that every Brazilian knows by heart, with the poem and the book.

- 68 votes · 13 items
- Aug 26, 2022 · Diogo Nunes
- https://even.best/en/l/5284/carlos-drummond-de-andrade-s-most-famous-lines

## Top 13

1. **In the middle of the road there was a stone / there was a stone in the middle of the road** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Poem "In the Middle of the Road", from Alguma Poesia (1930).
2. **Itabira is just a photograph on the wall. / But how it hurts!** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Poem "Confession of a Man from Itabira", from Sentimento do Mundo (1940).
3. **World, world, vast world, / if my name were Raimundo / it would be a rhyme, it would not be a solution.** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Poem "Seven-Sided Poem", from Alguma Poesia (1930).
4. **Time is my material, present time, present men, / present life.** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Poem "Hand in Hand", from Sentimento do Mundo (1940).
5. **João loved Teresa who loved Raimundo / who loved Maria who loved Joaquim who loved Lili / who loved no one.** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Poem "Square Dance", from Alguma Poesia (1930).
6. **When I was born, a crooked angel, / one of those who live in the shadows, / said: Go, Carlos, be gauche in life!** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — Poem "Seven-Sided Poem", from Alguma Poesia (1930).
7. **And now, José? / The party's over, / the lights are out, / the people are gone, / the night has turned cold.** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Poem "José", from José (1942).
8. **I have only two hands / and the feeling of the world.** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Poem "Feeling of the World", from Sentimento do Mundo (1940).
9. **Love is what one learns at the limit, / after filing away all knowledge / inherited, heard. Love begins late.** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Poem "Love and Its Time", from As Impurezas do Branco (1973).
10. **There comes a time when one no longer says: my God.** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Poem "The Shoulders Bear the World", from Sentimento do Mundo (1940).
11. **Loving what is lost / leaves this heart / bewildered.** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Poem "Memory", from Claro Enigma (1951).
12. **Fighting with words / is the vainest fight.** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Poem "The Fighter", from José (1942).
13. **There are many reasons not to love a person, and only one to love them; that one prevails.** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Aphorism from O Avesso das Coisas (1987).

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.