“In seeing there is love, in being seen there is abhorrence. One grins, trying to bear the pain of being seen. But not just anyone can be someone who only looks. If the one who is looked at looks back,… — Kōbō Abe Copy Share Image
“I rather think the world is like sand. The fundamental nature of sand is very difficult to grasp when you think of it in… — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
“Injuries to the body, especially the face, are not treated simply as problems of form. We should rather speak of themas belonging in the… — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
“What we mean when we say "terrible conditions" is conditions which we are aware of as being terrible.” — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
“He wanted to believe that his own lack of movement had stopped all movement in the world, the way a hibernating frog abolishes winter.” — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
“One could not do without repetition in life, like the beating of the heart, but it was also true that the beating of the… — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
“It is manifestly pregnant and has a bulging white belly heavy with its load of kittens.” — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
Many people ask why a writer commits suicide. But I think that people who ask don't know the vanity and the nothingness of writing.… — Kobo Abe Copy Share
“It would seem that marsupials are poor imitations of full-fledged mammals. Their inadequacy gives them a certain appeal; we’re touched by it.” — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
“The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from oneself.” — Kōbō Abe Copy Share
When I was young, I could bounce back from things like a brand-new rubber ball. — Kobo Abe Copy Share
