Those who are gasping in the terrible maelstrom of life are, contrary to what one may expect, not as happy as they might appear; they are, at least, many times happier than the skeptical bystander.
Nakajima Atsushi, “The Rebirth of Wujing” from The Moon over the Mountain and Other Stories
Starting today I’m going to be a man with courage in his heart. When a person falls to the very depths of suffering - where he can find no escape - he is somehow able to find new courage.
More than anything else I wish to speak with authority. If others regard what I say as eccentric, I’d rather be silent. In that event my passions will remain hidden behind a genial mask.
Dazai Osamu, excerpt taken from James A. O’Brien, Dazai Osamu (pg. 69)
A certain determination died in me today…. The vast and lonely landscape tries letting feeble sunlight warm it up.
Like the wind, however, my sense of desolation continues in my imagination to heap up piles of ashen clouds. Soon, everything in that painting titled “Resignation” will rebuff me and my spirit will crack.
- Tachihara Michizō, “Early Winter” from Of Dawn, of Dusk
