Quotes from Osamu Dazai

To ask whether they drink because they're isolated or isolated because the rest of the family disapprove of their drinking would be like clapping and trying to decide which hand made the sound—it can only lead to a lot of vain quibbling.

He looks happy. Away from home like this, he seems a different person.

It seems, regrettably, that not even genius can overcome the debilitating effects of a mild fever.

Drinkers tend to say inane and obnoxious things when they're drunk, but most of them are in fact harmless, innocent souls like this.

Without mutual respect, there can be no true nuptial bond.

He'll be back soon," she said, her face grave. It suddenly occurred to me that what people call "honesty" might well refer to just such an expression. I wondered if what the word originally meant was not something lovable like that expression, rather than the stern virtue smelling of textbooks of morality.

Perhaps, then, most lovers of drink are not what we today would call egoists but rather guardians of the sort of generous spirit that inspires all of us to toast, at times, our neighbor's happiness. We do this because we want to drink, yes, but if our neighbor gets drunk along with us, our pleasure is double.

Ojii-san's wen has been his only confidant, and he's conscious of a certain loneliness without it.

But actually glasses are the worst. Any sense of your face disappears when you put them on. Glasses obstruct whatever emotions that might appear on your face—passion, grace, fury, weakness, innocence, sorrow. And it's curious how it becomes impossible to try to communicate with your eyes. Glasses are like a ghost.

That's all right. I'll eat it cold. No need to warm it up." Ojii-san shrinks guiltily into himself as he sits down. He's dying to tell his wife about all the marvelous things that happened last night, but in the stern and austere atmosphere of her presence he finds the words sticking in his throat. He eats with head bowed, feeling perfectly wretched

When an artist is pumped up with the intention of creating a masterpiece, however, the work generally comes out poorly,

It has seemed to me in fact that those who called me lucky were incomparably more fortunate than I.

Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness. Everything passes. That is the one and only thing I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell. Everything passes.

Each individual has his own way of living. Can we not learn to respect one another's chosen way? One makes every effort to live in a dignified and proper manner, without harming anyone else, yet people will carp and cavil and try to tear one down.

What do you think the path of your predecessors was, but the path of adventure?

Toplum nedir ki? ?nsanlar?n ço?ulu mu? Bu toplum denilen ?ey somut olarak nerededir? Yine de her nas?lsa, ?iddetli, sert, korkutucu bir kavram oldu?unu dü?ünerek ya?am??t?m hep.

That is precisely what I don't understand: if my neighbors manage to survive without killing themselves, without going mad, maintaining an interest in political parties, not yielding to despair, resolutely pursuing the fight for existence, can their griefs really be genuine? Am I wrong in thinking that these people have become such complete egoists and are so convinced that they have never once doubted themselves?

Most drinkers are lonely men, isolated in their own homes. To ask whether they drink because they're isolated or isolated because the rest of the family disapprove of their drinking would be like clapping and trying to decide which hand made the sound—it can only lead to a lot of vain quibbling.

Lo? dükkân?n içinde oturmu? gülümseyen Yo?iko'nun beyaz yüzü. Kir pas tutmaz "bekâret" sözcü?ü bile hafif kal?r.

Eskiden beri insanl?k ehliyeti olmayan bir çocuktum

In terms of sealing your fate, there's no difference between turning right on a whim and turning right because you've come to some momentous resolve. Either way, it can't be undone.

Affetmek ya da affedememek söz konusu de?ildi. Yo?iko güven abidesiydi. ?nsanlardan ku?kulanmay? bilmiyordu. Fakat trajedi bu yüzden do?mu?tu. Sorar?m Tanr?'ya! Güven suç mudur?

Extending discipline for the minority to everyone else at the same time seems particularly cruel. As I grow older, I have begun to understand more and more how ethics taught in school and public mores are two different things. Those who insist on keeping ethics in school look like fools. People think they're eccentric. They'll never succeed, they'll always be penniless.

Across from me four or five salarymen who all looked about the same age were just sitting there. They must have been around 30. I didn't like any of them. Their eyes were empty and dull. They had no vigor. But now, if I so much as grinned at them, I could very well be dragged off by one of these men, falling into the chasm of compulsory marriage. A mere smile can determine a woman's fate. It is frightening. Fascinatingly so. I have to be careful.