Quotes from Sei Sh?nagon

30. Insects The fly should have been included in my list of hateful things; for such an odious creature does not belong with ordinary insects...

At times when I'm beside myself with exasperation at everything, and temporarily inclined to feel I'm simply better off dead, or am longing to just go away somewhere, anywhere, then if I happen to come by some lovely white paper for everyday use and a good writing brush, or white decorated paper or Michinoku paper, I'm immensely cheered, and find myself thinking I might perhaps be able to go on living for a while after all.

Things That Arouse a Fond Memory of the Past Dried hollyhock. The objects used during the Display of Dolls. To find a piece of deep violet or grape-colored material that has been pressed between the pages of a notebook. It is a rainy day and one is feeling bored. To pass the time, one starts looking through some old papers. And then one comes across the letters of a man one used to love. Last year's paper fan. A night with a clear moon.

A man of scholarly accomplishment is inexpressibly splendid. Though he may be of dreadfully lowly rank and no joy to look at, he fills you with awe and envy at the way he can spend time in the presence of those at the very highest levels, as their tutor,4 and be called on by them for scholarly consultations. It's also splendid to see him praised for his preparation of a dedicatory prayer, or a memorial presented to the throne, or some preface to poetry.

The Emperor's cat had received the fifth rank, and was given the appropriate title-name 'My?bu'. It was a charming creature, and the Emperor was quite devoted to it. One

Commoners always use too many words when they speak.

At any time and in any place I find moonlight very moving.

must say, if ever I do come across a man who seems to feel for me at all, I immediately assume he's actually quite shallow-hearted, so I have no need to expose myself to potential embarrassment.

Another charming scene is of a lovely lady, with fine features and hair falling long over her forehead, who receives a letter in a dark room and is so anxious to open it that she doesn't take the time to light a lamp, but instead picks up a glowing coal from the brazier with the fire tongs and sits straining to make out the words by its light.

It's also very annoying when you've made a fuss over some children who have come on a passing visit, and gone out of your way to give them things they'll like, and now they've come to expect this treatment and start constantly turning up and running around knocking things over.

Indeed, one's attachment to a man depends largely on the elegance of his leave-taking. When he jumps out of bed, scurries about the room, tightly fastens his trouser-sash, rolls up the sleeves of his Court cloak, over-robe, or hunting costume, stuffs his belongings into the breast of his robe and then briskly secures the outer sash—one really begins to hate him.

It's quite extraordinary how, from sheer vexation, you find yourself longing for even some passing commoner to have the sensibility to appreciate the scene, and later spread the word.

This doesn't look like anything you'd find mere mortals riding in!

In the old days, even the most inconsequential people were impressive. You don't hear such stories these days, do you?

Nothing is more unlovely than a fly, and it properly belongs in the list of infuriating things. Flies aren't big enough to make them worth bothering to hate, but just the way they settle all over everything in autumn, and their damp little feet when they land on your face … And I hate the way the word is used in people's names.2

A young couple who love each other but who can't be together as they long to be because someone is preventing it.4

She sits there for some time, poring over it repeatedly, and you're intrigued to imagine what it might contain, and particularly long to know the words that cause a momentary smile -- but since she's seated at some distance from you, all you can do is guess at the meaning of the parts where the ink is blackest.

you get on well and with whom you can discuss all the things that take your fancy or that you find unpleasant. There may well be some among your own attendants who don't disappoint in conversation, but the problem is that they're people you see every day. Men must feel the same way, since they make a point of inviting others along when they go off on expeditions.

Yet surely, in the world of humans, no one goes out of their way to run down a person who hasn't really made it in the world, or whose reputation is already on the wane. And no one would pause to savour the sight or the sound of some boring bird such as a kite or a crow. So, really, it's precisely because the uguisu is supposed to be such a marvellous bird that one's perversely more aware of its failings.

A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him discusses all sorts of subjects at random as though he knew everything.

In life there are two things which are dependable. The pleasures of the flesh and the pleasures of literature.

Pleasing things: finding a large number of tales that one has not read before. Or acquiring the second volume of a tale whose first volume one has enjoyed. But often it is a disappointment.

To wash your hair, apply your makeup and put on clothes that are well-scented with incense. Even if you're somewhere where no one special will see you, you still feel a heady sense of pleasure inside.

185. It Is Getting So Dark I am the sort of person who approves of what others abhor and detests the things they like.