Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Quotes

I could wish for nothing more than to die for a childish dream in which I truly believed.

A man sometimes devotes his life to a desire which he is not sure will ever be fulfilled. Those who laugh at this folly are, after all, no more than mere spectators of life.

Yes -- or rather, it's not so much that I want to die as that I'm tired of living.

It is unfortunate for the gods that, unlike us, they cannot commit suicide.

Isn't there someone kind enough to come strangle me in my sleep?

..he understood far more deeply than anyone else the loneliness that lurked beneath his jaunty mask.

I don't have the strength to keep writing this. To go on living with this feeling is painful beyond description. Isn't there someone kind enough to strangle me in my sleep?

I have no conscience at all -- least of all an artistic conscience. All I have is nerves.

As you can imagine, those who had fallen this far had been so worn down by their tortures in the seven other hells that they no longer had the strength to cry out.

I have heard unsavory rumors about you and the umbrella-maker's daughter

It's not so much that I want to die as that I'm tired of living.

Great robber though he was, Kandata could only trash about like a dying frog as he choked on the blood of the pond.