Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Yukio Mishima

Quote by Yukio Mishima

Work

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is a novel by Japanese author Yukio Mishima, first published in 1956. It is based on the real-life burning of the Kinkaku-ji temple in Kyoto in 1950. The story follows Mizoguchi, a young man with a stutter and a deep admiration for the temple's beauty, who becomes a novice at the temple. His growing obsession with the temple's perfection and his internal conflicts with beauty, ugliness, and impermanence culminate in a dramatic and tragic decision. The novel explores themes of aestheticism, obsession, and the destructive nature of idealized beauty. more

Author

Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima was a Japanese author and playwright, a prominent figure in post-war Japanese literature. His works, characterized by a fusion of traditional Japanese aesthetics and modernist techniques, often explored themes of tradition, ritual, and the samurai code. more

You May Also Like

“I did make a mistake in judging Anne, but it weren't no wonder, for an odder, unexpecteder witch of a child there never was in this world, that's what. There was no ciphering her out by the rules that worked with other children. It's nothing short of wonderful how she's improved these three years, but especially in looks. She's a real pretty girl got to be, though I can't say I'm overly partial to that pale, big-eyed style myself. I like more snap and color, like Diana Barry or Ruby Gillis. Ruby Gillis' looks are real showy. But somehow- I don't know how it is but when Anne and them are together, though she ain't half as handsome, she makes them look kind of common and overdone- something like them white June lilies she calls narcissus alongside of the big, red peonies, that's what.”

“Our need for beauty is not something that we could lack and still be fulfilled as people. It is a need arising from our metaphysical condition, as free individuals, seeking our place in a shared and public world. We can wander through this world, alienated, resentful, full of suspicion and distrust. Or we can find our home here, coming to rest in harmony with others and with ourselves. The experience of beauty guides us along this second path: it tells us that we are at home in the world, that the world is already ordered in our perceptions as a place fit for the lives of beings like us.”

Book:Beauty

“I have never ceased to be fascinated by feminine beauty. In a man, beauty, if it exists, is usually simple; a complete harmony of physical qualities and behaviour all acting together as a whole. The slightest flaw causes it to disappear. In women, beauty is more complex. Often, in my experience, the impression of beauty is created by a single aspect of a woman and from that aspect beauty appears to spread outward through every part of them, rendering them beautiful in their entirety. Sometimes such beauty comes from a smile. Sometimes from a lovely pair of eyes. Sometimes from an attitude, or a form of movement, or a sentiment of goodness or happiness which reveals itself in a single expression. Sometimes it is the curve of a body from which beauty spreads, sometimes a tone of skin, or a river of glossy hair that catches the light and seems to shine like silk. Yet were that aspect removed and not replaced by something else, so too would the beauty it had brought to light disappear. Less often, beauty comes from several sources in the same person, all working together to increase the impression of overall beauty. If one of these aspects were to disappear, unlike a man, the woman would remain beautiful, though changed.”

“In the darkness, every ray that broke through was not only noticeable but absolutely brilliant. Although this cavern surely did nothing to make the sun’s rays more brilliant than they already were, it did serve to elucidate their existing beauty. In the same way, my chronic brokenness and failures didn’t hinder the beauty of what God had done for me. Instead, my mistakes reminded me of the extent He went to in order to forgive me, heal me, and free me.”