Quotes by Japanese Authors - Page 9

The Homunculi may have started the war, but we were the ones who carried it out.
Hiromu Arakawa
When he saw the vista of the street reflected in the mirror in which he was looking, he was terror stricken. He had the impression that the whole view had turned into eyes that reproached him.
Kōbō Abe
The ending to this scene, I know it. Sirix will fail to return and Serena will still continue to wait. Even though this is repeated multiple times, Sirix will still fail to return. Even though this is repeated multiple times, Serena will still have to wait. I know....History won't change.
Mizuho Kusanagi
Although your decision to die is firm, your decision to become a god has caused you to suffer. You suffered, wondering why you couldn't cure Magdalia's illness, wondering why you weren't capable of saving her. All you wanted to do was protect your only sister, wasn't that it? Not in heaven, but here on Earth. You wanted to make Lady Maldaria happy more than anything else, didn't you? And so now, to avoid the guilt of your loved one dying at your expense, you're willing to die yourself. You've already come to this realization. You know you aren't god. You're just a fragile human being who's capable of feeling pain and having doubts. Go back to being an ordinary man and start all over again for the sake of those who look up to you."-Kenshin
Nobuhiro Watsuki
Blame has no purpose, and it is a lousy teacher.
John Yokoyama
…In the very simplicity of her desire to punish herself appeared egoism in its purest form. Never before had this woman who seemed to think only of herself experienced an egoism so immaculate.
Yukio Mishima
There is only one way to overcome the difficulty of writing, and that is to write. Thought only becomes effective and productive at the time of writing.
Amélie Nothomb
If a writer manages to be fascinating about his own novels, then there are only two possibilities: either he is merely voicing out loud what he wrote in his book, and he is a parrot; or he is explaining interesting things that he didn't discuss in his book, in which case the book in question is a failure since it does not live up to its claims.
Amélie Nothomb
Dying in the line of duty is heroic, but dying while unemployed is just stupid.
Tsugumi Ohba
Why was he laughing? Did he know that he would survive? No. That's impossible. He realized that he would end his life here. He admitted the truth that he would die and laughed. Have you ever seen a pirate laughing on the execution stand?
Captain Smoker
Naruto: I bet you're dying to know my name!Gaara: I couldn't care less.
Masashi Kishimoto
Having played to her heart's content, Chibi would come inside and rest for a while. When she began to sleep on the sofa--like a talisman curled gently in the shape of a comma and dug up from a prehistoric archaeological site--a deep sense of happiness arrived, as if the house itself had dreamed this scene.
Takashi Hiraide
8. The Cat Who Lived in the PalaceThe cat who lived in the Palace had been awarded the head-dress of nobility and was called Lady Myobu.
Sei Shōnagon
I already have insurance, a religion, and a newspaper subscription... I'm also... not interested in... aggressive sales of cats...
Natsuki Kizu
Are there any capitalist cats?" Nakata asked
Haruki Murakami
Sakaki: "...Why can't we just talk it over...?"Tomo: "You can't talk to cats.
Kiyohiko Azuma
Cats cant speak, that's common sense.-Yoruichi
Tite Kubo
Arise from sleep, old cat,And with great yawns and stretchings...Amble out for love
Kobayashi Issa
We get swallowed up by the illusion that unless we can find a place to belong, we are going to be all alone in the world.
Naoki Higashida
No need for everyone to look the same. The secret is to wear what suits you best!
Chica Umino
Chained inside the carriage is a sinful woman. When we set the carriage afire, her flesh will be roasted, her bones will be charred: she will die an agonizing death. Never again will you have such a perfect model for the screen. Do not fail to watch as her snow-white flesh erupts in flames. See and remember her long black hair dancing in a whirl of sparks!
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Still more horrible was the color of the flames that licked the latticed cabin vents before shooting skyward, as though - might I say? - the sun itself had crashed to earth, spewing its heavenly fire in all directions.
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
I could have sworn that the man's eyes were no longer watching his daughter dying in agony, that instead the gorgeous colors of flames and the sight of a woman suffering in them were giving him joy beyond measure.
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
The pale whiteness of her upturned face as she choked on the smoke; the tangled length of her hair as she tried to shake the flames from it; the beauty of her cherry-blossom robe as it burst into flame: it was all so cruel, so terrible!
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
We each have a special something we can get only at a special time of our life. like a small flame. A careful, fortunate few cherish that flame, nurture it, hold it as a torch to light their way. But once that flame goes out, it’s gone forever.
Haruki Murakami
Balsa seemed invincible, endowed with powers no other warrior could match, but in her profile he could glimpse the shadow of a young girl, hurt and buffeted by a cruel and hopeless fate. If he had never experienced what it was like to be at the mercy of fate himself, he would not have noticed, but now he could see it with unbearable, heartrending clarity.
Nahoko Uehashi
To be a saint or a man of too good a nature in today's pragmatic world, with everyone out to get the other fellow, was equivalent to being a fool, wasn't it?
Shūsaku Endō
Does the hatred you feel ever disappear? Or is it something that never goes away... No matter how many times you try to erase it? What I have always feared the most... Is myself. Because I, too, have hatred inside me.
Naoki Urasawa
In a world like that, there'd be no need for love anymore either. if everyone were perfect, there would be no need to look out for others. Sympathy or Love is needed because people are imperfect. A perfect human cannot love anyone.
Tamiki Wakaki
I don't want other people to mention my "self". Besides if I can be changed by a few words, then that wouldn't be my "self" would it?
Hikigaya Hachiman
Oshima's silent for a time as he gazes at the forest, eyes narrowed. Birds are flitting from one branch to the next. His hands are clasped behind his head. "I know how you feel," he finally says. "But this is something you have to work out on your own. Nobody can help you. That's what love's all about, Kafka. You're the one having those wonderful feelings, but you have to go it alone as you wander through the dark. Your mind and body have to bear it all. All by yourself.
Haruki Murakami
If all the people break, and all the world breaks, and everyone and everything goes mad, then I can be normal, just like everyone else, right?
Jun Mochizuki
No idea with who has no idea
Nomoto
This is what I am talking about: the bewitching power of moonlight. Moonlight incites dark passions like a cold flame, making hearts burning with the intensity of phosphorus.
Rampo Edogawa
In a mad world, only the mad are sane.
Akira Kurosawa
A dense, artistic kind of imperfection stimulates your consciousness, keeps you alert. If I listen to some utterly perfect performance of an utterly perfect piece while I'm driving, I might want to close my eyes and die right then and there. But listening to the D major, I can feel the limits of what humans are capable of-- that a certain type of perfection can only be realised through a limitless accumulation of imperfect.
Haruki Murakami
The seeker for perfection must discover in his own life the reflection of the inner light.
Kakuzō Okakura
The armored infantry was Santa Claus, the battle was out Christmas. What else for the elves to do on Christmas Eve but to let their hair down and drink a a little eggnog.
Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Of course, my Christmas is (so much more) gorgeous and romantic (than Germany's)!! And unlike the rest of the world, we leave wine behind for Santa Claus!""So Santa-san is delivering gifts to children while driving under the influence . . . ?
Hidekaz Himaruya
Otaguro’s bosom heaved with an ineffable surge of joy. “Every man is fighting,” he murmured. “Every man.
Yukio Mishima
Madoka: I'm always... making somebody else fight for me. I can't do anything... Does that make me a coward?Kyōko: Why do you gotta be a magical girl?Madoka: "Why"...?Kyōko: ...This work isn't about playing around. When the job's about putting yourself in harm's way, the only ones who do it are the poor slobs who don't have any other choice. The others who are surrounded by loving families and have the whole world ahead of 'em... the idiots who become magical girls on a whim... They're the ones I can't accept. I just wanna crush 'em! ...Someday the time may come when you have your back to a wall and you gotta fight. You can think about that stuff when the time comes.
Magica Quartet
Love EgoistSumire: At first, I was simply fighting the image others forced on me. It's true that it's kind of fun to curse people behind their backs, but... I know it's not nice and it makes me feel depressed afterward.
Bisco Hatori
Haruhi: This is a sibling squabble, not a fight to the death! You're both wrong, and acting like idiots only proves it!
Bisco Hatori
IF YOU WISH TO BRING PEACE UPON YOUR OWN, YOU MUST FIGHT THOSE WHO WISH FOR THE SAME PEACE.
Isayama Hajime
Keisaku and Eita were expecting to see "the beauty in the morning" as they entered the room. What they actually saw, however, was "The Terror of the Bagworm Queen" rolling around on the floor. It was a scene far removed from the sexy situation the two had imagined.
Yashichiro Takahashi
If you don't fight for him, you lose! Fight for him!~Nana Osaki
Ai Yazawa
Did not we vow that we would neither of us be either before or after the other even in travelling the last journey of life? And can you find it in your heart to leave me now?
Murasaki Shikibu
When my own time comes, will I too long for the sea? I think I will be content enough with the soil. And I will not demand the exact spot, but let it be within this country Horace and I have spent the years roaming contentedly.
Kazuo Ishiguro
I felt guilty that I hadn't thought of Kizuki right away, as if I had somehow abandoned him. Back in my room, though, I came to think of it this way: two and a half years have gone by since it happened, and Kizuki is still seventeen years old. Not that this means my memory of him has faded. The things that his death gave rise to are still there, bright and clear, inside me, some of them even clearer than when they were new. What I want to say is this: I'm going to turn twenty soon. Part of what Kizuki and I shared when we were sixteen and seventeen has already vanished, and no amount of crying is going to bring that back. I can't explain it any better than this, but I think that you can probably understand what I felt and what I am trying to say.
Haruki Murakami
When someone who's starved of love is shown something that looks like sincere affection, is it any wonder that she jumps at it and clings to it?
Sayo Masuda
We weep for the blood of a bird, but not for the blood of a fish. Blessed are those who have voice.
Mamoru Oshii
No matter what the situation may be, I still take pleasure in witnessing the joy of others.
Haruki Murakami
Still, this was on the order of a minor miracle, running across someone to whom you can express your feeling so clearly, so completely. Most people go their entire lives without meeting a person like that. It would have been mistake to label this "love". It was more like total empathy.
Haruki Murakami
No matter how much enthusiasm and effort you put into writing, if you totally lack literary talent you can forget about being a novelist.
Haruki Murakami
As I suspect is true of many who write for a living, as I write I think about all sorts of things. I don't necessarily write down what I'm thinking; it's just that as I write I think about things. As I write, I arrange my thoughts. And rewriting and revising takes my thinking down even deeper paths.
Haruki Murakami
A short story I have written long ago would barge into my house in the middle of the night, shake me awake and shout, 'Hey,this is no time for sleeping! You can't forget me, there's still more to write!' Impelled by that voice, I would find myself writing a novel. In this sense, too, my short stories and novels connect inside me in a very natural, organic way.
Haruki Murakami
I never once thought I wanted to be a soldier. I wanted to be a teacher. As soon as I left college, though, they sent me my draft notice, stuck me in officers training, and I ended up on the continent for twelve years. My life went by like a dream.
Haruki Murakami
I remembered seeing a media channel where they showed picture after picture of food items I had never seen before in my life. When I asked my father what it was, he said they called it the “Two Minutes’ Hate.
Project Itoh
The instant the old folks had entered their codes and the Harmony program had begun to sing, suicide disappeared from human society. Nearly all battles ceased. The individual was no longer a unit. The entire social system was the unit. By losing its sense of self and self-awareness, society had been freed from the pain it suffered because its systems had relied on imperfect humans, arriving for the first time at a perfect bliss. I am a part of the system, as you are part of the system. No one felt any pain about that any longer. There was no “me” to feel pain. I had been replaced by a single...
Project Itoh
The little things are important, Mr. Wind-Up Bird,
Haruki Murakami