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Yukio Mishima

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Famous Yukio Mishima Quotes

“He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other vaunted benefits of old age. Would he be able to die young—and if possible free of all pain? A graceful death—as a richly patterned kimono, thrown carelessly across a polished table, slides unobtrusively down into the darkness of the floor beneath. A death marked by elegance.”

IfsAgeAblePainYoungDiesDarknessBenefitsTablesOld AgeThrownEleganceSlidesPolishedDie YoungKimonos
Book:Spring Snow
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“We tend to suffer from the illusion that we are capable of dying for a belief or theory. What Hagakure is insisting is that even in merciless death, a futile death that knows neither flower nor fruit has dignity as the death of a human being. If we value so highly the dignity of life, how can we not also value the dignity of death? No death may be called futile.”

IfsKnowsHumansMaySufferingValuesBeliefHuman BeingsDyingFlowerTheoryCapableIllusionDignityFruitInsisting
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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