He felt so lost, he said later, that the familiar studio felt like a haunted valley deep in the mountains, with the smell of rotting leaves, the spray of a waterfall, the sour fumes of fruit stashed away by a… — 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
It is unfortunate for the gods that, unlike us, they cannot commit suicide. — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
I could wish for nothing more than to die for a childish dream in which I truly believed. — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
“This is all for the sake of the House,” he told himself, but behind his resolve he sensed, indistinctly, a certain effort at self-vindication,… — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Copy Share Image
