If any suffering was fruitless it was the agony of a hangover; what he suffered now could not expiate suffering of any other kind.

My observation is that after one hundred and twenty years of modernisation since the opening of the country, present-day Japan is split between two opposite poles of ambiguity.

The ambiguous orientation of Japan drove the country into the position of an invader in Asia.

After the end of the Second World War it was a categorical imperative for us to declare that we renounced war forever in a central article of the new Constitution.

It is the second job of literature to create myth. But its first job is to destroy it.

Paradoxically, the people and state of Japan living on such moral props were not innocent but had been stained by their own past history of invading other Asian countries.

There's no better reading experience than going to the place where a text was written.

The ideal teacher student relationship exists when the student is better than the teacher.

To be upright and to have an imagination: that is enough to be a very good young man.

However, please allow me to say that the fundamental style of my writing has been to start from my personal matters and then to link it up with society, the state and the world.

The Japanese chose the principle of eternal peace as the basis of morality for our rebirth after the War.

An imaginative mind is a place where you can find magic.

Christmas ought to be brought up to date, ” Maria said. “It ought to have gangsters, and aeroplanes and a lot of automatic pistols.

The cure for a broken heart is simple, my lady. A hot bath and a good night's sleep.

Superficially insignificant or accidental looking detail [in art] may well carry the most important unconscious symbolism.

Just like Tim Robbins is very political - and obviously, Arnold Schwarzenegger must be - I want to be able to have this public personality that's considered authoritative.

Many people claim coffee inspires them, but, as everybody knows, coffee only makes boring people even more boring.

For me, I just try to make sure I eat enough and drink enough water and that's about it.

I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth. Not the biased truth, Not the liest truth, But the highest truth.

Donald Trump is breaking every rule and getting away with it. He's breaking every rule and getting more popular.

Is it possible to be totally partial?