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Yukio Mishima

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Famous Yukio Mishima Quotes

“His conviction of having no purpose in life other than to act as a distillation of poison was part of the ego of an eighteen-year-old. He had resolved that his beautiful white hands would never be soiled or calloused. He wanted to be like a pennant, dependent on each gusting wind. The only thing that seemed valid to him was to live for the emotions--gratuitous and unstable, dying only to quicken again, dwindling and flaring without direction or purpose.”

YearsHandsWantedBeautifulPurposeWhiteEmotionDyingWindEgoConvictionPoisonDependentPurpose Of LifeEighteenUnstableDistillationEighteen Years Old
Book:Spring Snow
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“We had stretched out our arms to each other and supported something in our joined hands, but this thing we were holding was like a sort of gas that exists when you believe in its existence and disappears when you doubt. The task of supporting it seems simple at first glance, but actually requires an ultimate refinement of calculation and a consummate skill.”

FirstsBelieveHandsSeemsSimpleExistenceDoubtArmsSkillsTasksUltimateDisappearGasGlancesCalculationsRefinement
Book:Confessions of a Mask
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“Even when we're with someone we love, we're foolish enough to think of her body and soul as being separate. To stand before the person we love is not the same as loving her true self, for we are only apt to regard her physical beauty as the indispensable mode of her existence. When time and space intervene, it is possible to be deceived by both, but on the other hand, it is equally possible to draw twice as close to her real self.”

ThinkingPersonsRealSoulSelfEnoughBodyHandsSpaceLove IsExistenceDrawsRegardFoolishIndispensableTrue SelfTime And SpaceDeceivedReal SelfPhysical Beauty
Author:Yukio Mishima
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“Just let matters slide. How much better to accept each sweet drop of the honey that was Time, than to stoop to the vulgarity latent in every decision. However grave the matter at hand might be, if one neglected it for long enough, the act of neglect itself would begin to affect the situation, and someone else would emerge as an ally. Such was Count Ayakura's version of political theory.”

IfsLongMatterEnoughHandsMightPoliticalDecisionSituationAcceptingSweetTheoryGravesVersionsNeglectAlliesHoneySlidesNeglectedVulgarityLatentStoopsPolitical Theory
Book:Spring Snow
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