Ryunosuke Akutagawa, 1892-1927, writer
Justice, like a weapon, can be bought by both enemy and friend. You just need to pay money.
Hostility is comparable to cold. Being moderate, it invigorates and, besides, it is necessary for many to maintain health.
Ultimately, the merit of dialectics lies in the fact that it is forced to come to the conclusion that everything in the world is stupidity.
Marriage is an effective means of regulating sensuality. But it cannot serve as an equally effective means of regulating love.
Words in a literary work must be given a beauty greater than that which they possess in a dictionary.
The weakness of freethinkers is that they are freethinkers. They are not ready, like fanatics, for fierce battles.
Hatred is one of the worldly talents.
The only feeling common to all people is the fear of death. Apparently, it is no coincidence that suicide is condemned as an immoral act.
Immorality is another name for excess.
Morality is another name for convenience.
Love is a sexual feeling expressed poetically.
Human, too human, is always something animal.
Literature is the art of self-expression through words.
A poet is a person who reveals his soul to everyone.
Prose occupies a place in literature only because of the poetry it contains.
The talent of a prose writer comes down to three talents: the talent of a poet, the talent of a historian or biographer, and the talent of everyday life.
There are no pessimists among those who are fond of gambling.
Conscience does not appear with age, like a beard. It takes some experience to acquire a conscience.
Doing is not always difficult. It's hard to wish. At least wish for what is worth doing.
Once in love, we acquire an unsurpassed ability to engage in self-deception.
Lies are yesterday's truth.
Dangerous thoughts are those that make you move your brain.
He who indulges in revelry out of anguish cannot drive away anguish by revelry.
None of us need what we already have.
We are most proud of what we do not have.
Marriage is useful for appeasing sensuality. It is useless for the appeasement of love.
He who mocks others is himself afraid of the ridicule of others.
There is no more painful punishment than not being punished.
Perhaps conscience is the source of morality. But morality has never yet been the source of what is considered good in conscience.
The strong trample on morality. Weak morality caresses. The one whom morality pursues always stands between the strong and the weak.
A strong man is not afraid of enemies, but he is afraid of friends. Destroying an enemy with one blow, he does not feel any grief, but he is afraid to involuntarily injure a friend, like a woman. The weak are not afraid of friends, but they are afraid of enemies. That is why he sees an enemy in everyone.
Fate is more inevitable than chance. “Fate lies in character” - these words were not born in vain.
Human life is like a box of matches. Taking her seriously is ridiculous. Being careless is dangerous.
Human life is like a box of matches. Taking her seriously is ridiculous. Being careless is dangerous.
The strong trample on morality. Weak morality caresses. The one whom morality pursues always stands between the strong and the weak.
There are no pessimists among those who are fond of gambling.
Conscience is a strict art.
Strange, but the woman's face, seized with passion, becomes like that of a young girl. True, this passion can be turned to the umbrella.
Lies are yesterday's truth.
Heredity, environment, chance - these are the three things that control our destiny.
Conscience does not appear with age, like a beard. It takes some experience to acquire a conscience.
Perhaps conscience is the source of morality, but morality has never been the source of what conscience considers good.
Once in love, we acquire an unsurpassed ability to engage in self-deception.
Everyone wants freedom. But it only seems that way from the outside. In fact, no one wants freedom deep down. Freedom is like mountain air. For the weak, it is unbearable.
Human life is more hell than hell itself.
Truly, human life disappears in an instant, like a dewdrop, like lightning.
The inhabitants of paradise must first of all be deprived of the stomach and reproductive organ.
The weakness of freethinkers is that they are freethinkers. They are not ready, like fanatics, for fierce battles.
All of us, too, rush on the wooden horses of life, at times we encounter happiness, but, not having time to grab it, we rush past. And if we want to grab happiness, we must jump off the horse without hesitation.
Life is like a book with many pages missing. It is difficult to call it whole. And yet she is whole.
The happiness of the classics is that they are dead. Our happiness and yours is that they are dead.
Of all the gods, my greatest sympathy is that they cannot commit suicide.
Being on the verge of death, we humans sometimes think about surprisingly absurd things.
The appreciation of a literary work is a collaboration between the artist and the critic. In other words, when analyzing someone else's work, the critic is only trying to create his own.
The idiot is convinced that everyone but him is an idiot.
Our love for nature is explained, among other things, by the fact that nature does not feel either hatred or envy towards us.
Politics, industry, art, science - everything for me at that moment was nothing but colored enamel covering the horror of human life.
Each of us must firmly know that he is not worth much. In fact, only those who know this are worth anything.
The thirst for creativity is also the thirst for life.
The tragedy of our situation lies in the fact that while we, either due to our youth or due to a lack of education, have not yet been able to acquire a conscience, we are already accused of lack of conscience. The comical aspect of our position is that after being accused of lack of conscience, either due to youth or lack of upbringing, we finally gain a conscience.
None of us need what we already have.
To discover the stupidity of the people is not something to be proud of. But to discover that we ourselves are also a people is something to be proud of. (a slightly different translation: To understand that the people are stupid is not something to be proud of. But to understand that we ourselves are the people is something to be proud of.)
Doing is not always difficult. It's hard to wish. At least wish for what is worth doing.
The Japanese pirates [meaning the Japanese pirates of the 13th-16th centuries, who operated along the entire Pacific coast of Asia, from the coast of Korea to the coast of Indochina] showed that we Japanese have enough strength to stand in line with the great powers. In robbery, massacre, debauchery, we are by no means inferior to the Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch and British, who came to look for the "Isle of Gold" (as Marco Polo called Japan).
The loftiness of the writer's spirit is located in the back of his head. He himself cannot see her. If he tries to see at all costs, he will only break his neck.
Our actions are not guided by good or evil. Only our addictions. Or our pleasure and displeasure. Determine our actions, as the ancient Greeks said, addictions, and nothing else.
Creativity is always a risk. Effort is only half the battle, you will not achieve perfection by effort alone. Art is a dark abyss. If it weren’t for the thirst for money, if it weren’t for the desire for fame, if, finally, it weren’t for the suffering from the creative heat, then perhaps we would not have had the courage to fight this sinister art.
Words in a literary work must be given a beauty greater than that which they possess in a dictionary.
Hostility is comparable to cold. Being moderate, it invigorates and, besides, it is necessary for many to maintain health.
Relying on experience alone is tantamount to relying on food alone without thinking about digestion. At the same time, relying on your own abilities alone, neglecting experience, is tantamount to relying on digestion alone, not thinking about food.
Public opinion is always lynching, and lynching is always entertainment. Even if instead of a gun they resort to a newspaper article.
Submission is romantic subservience.
Protecting yourself is harder than protecting an outsider. He who doubts, let him look at the lawyer.
No one is able to confess everything to the end. At the same time, self-expression is impossible without confession.
One of the symptoms of love is the thought that "she" loved someone in the past, the desire to know who he is, who "she" loved, or what kind of person he was, and a feeling of vague jealousy for this imaginary person.
Immorality is another name for excess.
I was indifferent to money. Of course, because they had enough for food.
Marriage is useful for appeasing sensuality. It is useless for the appeasement of love.
A strong man is not afraid of enemies, but he is afraid of friends.
The strong fear not the enemy, but the friend. He intrepidly plunges the enemy, but, like a weak child, he is afraid of inadvertently injuring a friend. The weak fear not a friend, but an enemy. Therefore, he sees enemies everywhere.
Calling a despot a despot has always been dangerous. And today it is just as dangerous to call slaves slaves.
He who indulges in revelry out of anguish cannot drive away anguish by revelry.
Those who make fun of others fear being made fun of themselves.
We are most proud of what we do not have.
There is no more painful punishment than not being punished.
Dangerous thoughts - those that make you move your brains ...
Prose occupies a place in literature only because of the poetry it contains.
Fate is more inevitable than chance. “Destiny lies in the character” - these words were not born in vain.
Human, too human - mostly something animal.
In our world, where the strong always defeat the weak, either the fool or the madman gives free rein to his anger.
Paradise is something like a luxurious department store, at the same time looking like a castle from feudal times.
And since he became a writer, then, of course, he is not fond of anything other than women.
And now the word is yours, readers of the country of the Middle Kingdom! After all, you are mostly crabs! ©
Mostly quotes from:
*****
Human life is like a box of matches. Taking her seriously is ridiculous. Being careless is dangerous.
*****
The strong trample on morality. Weak morality caresses. The one whom morality pursues always stands between the strong and the weak.
*****
There are no pessimists among those who are fond of gambling.
*****
Conscience is a strict art.
*****
Strange, but the woman's face, seized with passion, becomes like that of a young girl. True, this passion can be turned to the umbrella.
*****
*****
Lies are yesterday's truth.
*****
Heredity, environment, chance - these are the three things that control our destiny.
*****
Conscience does not appear with age, like a beard. It takes some experience to acquire a conscience.
*****
Perhaps conscience is the source of morality, but morality has never been the source of what conscience considers good.
*****
Once in love, we acquire an unsurpassed ability to engage in self-deception.
*****
Everyone wants freedom. But it only seems that way from the outside. In fact, no one wants freedom deep down. Freedom is like mountain air. For the weak, it is unbearable.
*****
To be considered a person whose word does not disagree with deed, one must achieve perfection in the ability to justify oneself.
*****
Human life is more hell than hell itself.
*****
Truly, human life disappears in an instant, like a dewdrop, like lightning.
*****
The inhabitants of paradise must first of all be deprived of the stomach and reproductive organ.
*****
The weakness of freethinkers is that they are freethinkers. They are not ready, like fanatics, for fierce battles.
*****
All of us, too, rush on the wooden horses of life, at times we encounter happiness, but, not having time to grab it, we rush past. And if we want to grab happiness, we must jump off the horse without hesitation.
*****
Life is like a book with many pages missing. It is difficult to call it whole. And yet she is whole.
*****
The happiness of the classics is that they are dead. Our happiness and yours is that they are dead.
*****
Of all the gods, my greatest sympathy is that they cannot commit suicide.
*****
Being on the verge of death, we humans sometimes think about surprisingly absurd things.
*****
The appreciation of a literary work is a collaboration between the artist and the critic. In other words, when analyzing someone else's work, the critic is only trying to create his own.
*****
The idiot is convinced that everyone but him is an idiot.
*****
Our love for nature is explained, among other things, by the fact that nature does not feel either hatred or envy towards us.
*****
Politics, industry, art, science - everything for me at that moment was nothing but colored enamel covering the horror of human life.
*****
Each of us must firmly know that he is not worth much. In fact, only those who know this are worth anything.
*****
The thirst for creativity is also the thirst for life.
*****
*****
The tragedy of our situation lies in the fact that while we, either due to our youth or due to a lack of education, have not yet been able to acquire a conscience, we are already accused of lack of conscience. The comical aspect of our position is that after being accused of lack of conscience, either due to youth or lack of upbringing, we finally gain a conscience.
*****
None of us need what we already have.
*****
To discover the stupidity of the people is not something to be proud of. But to discover that we ourselves are also a people is something to be proud of. (a slightly different translation: To understand that the people are stupid is not something to be proud of. But to understand that we ourselves are the people is something to be proud of.)
*****
Doing is not always difficult. It's hard to wish. At least wish for what is worth doing.
*****
The Japanese pirates [meaning the Japanese pirates of the 13th-16th centuries, who operated along the entire Pacific coast of Asia, from the coast of Korea to the coast of Indochina] showed that we Japanese have enough strength to stand in line with the great powers. In robbery, massacre, debauchery, we are by no means inferior to the Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch and British, who came to look for the "Isle of Gold" (as Marco Polo called Japan).
*****
The loftiness of the writer's spirit is located in the back of his head. He himself cannot see her. If he tries to see at all costs, he will only break his neck.
*****
Our actions are guided neither by good nor by evil. Just our passions. Or our pleasure and displeasure. Determine our actions, as the ancient Greeks said, addictions, and nothing else.
*****
Creativity is always a risk. Effort is only half the battle, you will not achieve perfection by effort alone. Art is a dark abyss. If it weren’t for the thirst for money, if it weren’t for the desire for fame, if, finally, it weren’t for the suffering from the creative heat, then perhaps we would not have had the courage to fight this sinister art.
*****
Words in a literary work must be given a beauty greater than that which they possess in a dictionary.
*****
Hostility is comparable to cold. Being moderate, it invigorates and, besides, it is necessary for many to maintain health.
*****
Relying on experience alone is tantamount to relying on food alone without thinking about digestion. At the same time, relying on your own abilities alone, neglecting experience, is tantamount to relying on digestion alone, not thinking about food.
*****
Public opinion is always lynching, and lynching is always entertainment. Even if instead of a gun they resort to a newspaper article.
*****
Submission is romantic subservience.
*****
Protecting yourself is harder than protecting an outsider. He who doubts, let him look at the lawyer.
*****
No one is able to confess everything to the end. At the same time, self-expression is impossible without confession.
*****
One of the symptoms of love is the thought that "she" loved someone in the past, the desire to know who he is, who "she" loved, or what kind of person he was, and a feeling of vague jealousy for this imaginary person.
*****
Immorality is another name for excess.
*****
I was indifferent to money. Of course, because they had enough for food.
*****
Marriage is useful for appeasing sensuality. It is useless for the appeasement of love.
*****
A strong man is not afraid of enemies, but he is afraid of friends.
*****
*****
The strong fear not the enemy, but the friend. He intrepidly plunges the enemy, but, like a weak child, he is afraid of inadvertently injuring a friend. The weak fear not a friend, but an enemy. Therefore, he sees enemies everywhere.
*****
Calling a despot a despot has always been dangerous. And today it is just as dangerous to call slaves slaves.
*****
He who indulges in revelry out of anguish cannot drive away anguish by revelry.
*****
Those who make fun of others fear being made fun of themselves.
*****
We are most proud of what we do not have.
*****
There is no more painful punishment than not being punished.
*****
Dangerous thoughts - those that make you move your brains ...
*****
Prose occupies a place in literature only because of the poetry it contains.
*****
Fate is more inevitable than chance. “Destiny lies in the character” - these words were not born in vain.
*****
Human, too human - mostly something animal.
*****
In our world, where the strong always defeat the weak, either the fool or the madman gives free rein to his anger.
*****
Paradise is something like a luxurious department store, at the same time looking like a castle from feudal times.
*****
And since he became a writer, then, of course, he is not fond of anything other than women.
*****
And now the word is yours, readers of the country of the Middle Kingdom! After all, you are mostly crabs!
*****
Since ancient times, people believed that hell is the underworld. And only one of the circles of this hell - the hell of loneliness - suddenly appears in the airy spheres above the mountains, fields and forests. In other words, what surrounds a person can turn into a hell of torment and suffering in the blink of an eye.
*****
Life is something even more hellish than hell itself. The torments in hell do not go against the established laws... But the torments sent down by life, unfortunately, are not so primitive... It is not easy to adapt to such a world where there are no laws.
*****
When a woman is seized with passion, for some reason her face becomes like a girl. Calling a tyrant a tyrant has always been dangerous. But today it is no less dangerous to call a slave a slave.
*****
No one objects to the overthrow of idols. But at the same time, he does not object to being made an idol himself.
*****
Traditionally, it is believed that a political genius is one who turns the will of the people into his own. However, the opposite is true. It would be more correct to say that a political genius is one who turns his own will into the will of the people.
*****
To make life happy, you need to love everyday little things. The radiance of clouds, the rustle of bamboo, the chirping of a flock of sparrows, the faces of passers-by - in all these everyday trifles one must find the highest pleasure.
*****
"Fate lies in the character" - these words were not born in vain. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
We are most proud of what we do not have. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Marriage is useful for appeasing sensuality. It is useless for the appeasement of love. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Since ancient times, people believed that hell is the underworld. And only one of the circles of this hell - the hell of loneliness - suddenly appears in the airy spheres above the mountains, fields and forests. In other words, what surrounds a person can turn into a hell of torment and suffering in the blink of an eye. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Life is something even more hellish than hell itself. The torments in hell do not go against the established laws... But the torments sent down by life, unfortunately, are not so primitive... It is not easy to adapt to such a world where there are no laws. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Life is like a box of matches. Treating her seriously is dumber than dumb. Being careless is dangerous. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
When a woman is seized with passion, for some reason her face becomes like a girl. True, this passion can also be directed to an umbrella. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
He who mocks others is himself afraid of the ridicule of others. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Perhaps conscience is the source of morality. But morality has never yet been the source of what is considered good in conscience. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Calling a tyrant a tyrant has always been dangerous. But today it is no less dangerous to call a slave a slave. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Calling a despot a despot has always been dangerous. And today it is just as dangerous to call slaves slaves. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Calling a despot a despot has always been dangerous. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
There is no more painful punishment than not being punished. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
No one objects to the overthrow of idols. But at the same time, he does not object to being made an idol himself. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Dangerous thoughts are those that make you move your brain. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Prose occupies a place in literature only because of the poetry it contains. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Freedom is like mountain air. It is unbearable for the weak. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
The strong trample on morality. Weak morality caresses. The one who pursues morality always stands between the strong and the weak. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
A strong man is not afraid of enemies, but he is afraid of friends. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Fate is more inevitable than chance. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Worldly talent - to be the master of his fate, helpful and courteous with anyone, even the most inveterate idiot. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Traditionally, it is believed that a political genius is one who turns the will of the people into his own. However, the opposite is true. It would be more correct to say that a political genius is one who turns his own will into the will of the people. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Human life is like a box of matches. Taking her seriously is ridiculous. Being careless is dangerous. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Human, too human - mostly something animal. - Akutagawa Ryunosuke
To make life happy, you need to love everyday little things. The radiance of clouds, the rustle of bamboo, the chirping of a flock of sparrows, the faces of passers-by - in all these everyday trifles one must find the highest pleasure. - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
