17. Butterfly A butterfly fluttered its wings in a wind thick with the smell of seaweed. His dry lips felt the touch of the butterfly for the briefest instant, yet the wisp of wing dust still shone on his lips… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
Yes -- or rather, it's not so much that I want to die as that I'm tired of living. — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“But he knew what was wrong with him; he was ashamed of himself and afraid of them- afraid of the society whe so despised.” — Ryünosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“...O-suzu left whatever work she was doing at her sewing machine and dragged Takeo back to O-yoshi and her son. How dare you behave… — Ryunosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
I have no conscience at all -- least of all an artistic conscience. All I have is nerves. — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
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… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“He disliked his own lies as much as his parents', but still he continued to lie -- boldly and cunningly. He did this primarily… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“These works are handed down from teacher to pupil, from parent to child, almost without question, like DNA. They are memorized, recited, discussed in… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
A man sometimes devotes his life to a desire which he is not sure will ever be fulfilled. Those who laugh at this folly… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“He was said to have survived starvation by eating human flesh, after which he had the strength to tear out the antlers of a… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
I may be a lunatic, but then, wasn't my lunacy caused by a monster that lurks at the bottom of every human mind? Those… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“...we could see the parapet of Ryougoku Bridge, arching above the waves that flickered in the faint mid-autumn twilight and against the sky, as… — Ryunosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“Directly beneath the Lotus Pond of Paradise lay the lower depths of Hell, and as He peered through the crystalline waters, He could see… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
