---
title: "2 Society Individual Quotes By Osamu Dazai"
description: "2 Society Individual quotes by Osamu Dazai. Plus more from Osamu Dazai and more Society Individual sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/osamu-dazai-2813_whole-life_what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-t_2363859.jpg"
---

> [“What, I wondered, did he mean by “society”? The plural of human beings? Where was the substance of this thing called “society”? I had spent my whole life thinkng that society must certainly be something powerful, harsh and severe, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-the-plural-of-human-beings/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/osamu-dazai-2813_whole-life_what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-t_2363859.jpg)

> [ What is society but an individual? \[\] The ocean is not society; it is individuals. This was how I managed to gain a modicum of freedom from my terror at the illusion of the ocean called the world. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/what-is-society-but-an-individual-the-ocean-is-not-society-it-is/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/osamu-dazai-2813_community_what-is-society-but-an-individual-the-oc_2748167.jpg)

## More by Osamu Dazai

> [I want to spend my time with people who don't look to be respected. But such good people won't want to spend their time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-want-to-spend-my-time-with-people-who-don-t-look-to-be-respected/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“Disqualified as a human being. I had now ceased utterly to be a human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/disqualified-as-a-human-being-i-had-now-ceased-utterly-to-be-a-human/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [I was afraid to board a streetcar because of the conductor; I was afraid to enter the Kabuki Theater for fear of the usherettes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-was-afraid-to-board-a-streetcar-because-of-the-conductor-i-was/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“Tomorrow will probably be another day like today. Happiness will never come my way. I know that. But it's probably best to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/tomorrow-will-probably-be-another-day-like-today-happiness-will-never/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/when-i-pretended-to-be-precocious-people-started-the-rumor-that-i-was/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [One day, I went to a soba restaurant outside town, and while I was waiting for the zarusoba I opened an old graph magazine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/one-day-i-went-to-a-soba-restaurant-outside-town-and-while-i-was/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“I feel so unhappy.” I am sure that this one phrase whispered to me would arouse my sympathy more than the longest, most painstaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-feel-so-unhappy-i-am-sure-that-this-one-phrase-whispered-to-me/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [I soon came to understand that drink, tobacco and prostitutes were all great means if dissipating (even for a few moments) my dread for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-soon-came-to-understand-that-drink-tobacco-and-prostitutes-were-all/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“Of late a gloomy rain has been falling almost incessantly. Whatever I do depresses me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/of-late-a-gloomy-rain-has-been-falling-almost-incessantly-whatever-i/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only one who is entirely unlike the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/all-i-feel-are-the-assaults-of-apprehension-and-terror-at-the-thought/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [Last year nothing happened The year before nothing happened And the year before that nothing happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/last-year-nothing-happened-the-year-before-nothing-happened-and-the/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“Disqualified as a human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/disqualified-as-a-human-being/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [“Logic, inevitably, is the love of logic. It is not the love for living human beings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/logic-inevitably-is-the-love-of-logic-it-is-not-the-love-for-living/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [I like roses best. But they bloom in all four seasons. I wonder if people who like roses best have to die four times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-like-roses-best-but-they-bloom-in-all-four-seasons-i-wonder-if/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

> [But happiness is being able to hope, however faintly, for happiness. So, at least, we must believe if we are to live in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/but-happiness-is-being-able-to-hope-however-faintly-for-happiness-so/)

[Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Society Individual Quotes By Osamu Dazai",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“What, I wondered, did he mean by “society”? The plural of human beings? Where was the substance of this thing called “society”? I had spent my whole life thinkng that society must certainly be something powerful, harsh and severe, but to hear Horiki talk made the words “Don’t you mean yourself?” come to the tip of my tongue. But I held the words back, reluctant to anger him. ‘Society won’t stand for it.’ ‘It’s not society. You’re the one who won’t stand for it - right?’ ‘If you do such a thing society will make you suffer for it’ ‘It’s not society. It’s you, isn’t it?’ ‘Before you know it, you’ll be ostracized by society.’ ‘It’s not society. You’re going to do the ostracizing, aren’t you?’ Words, words of every kind went flitting through my head. “Know thy particular fearsomeness, thy knavery, cunning and witchcraft!” What I said, however, as I wiped the perspiration from my face with a handkerchief was merely, “You’ve put me in a cold sweat!” I smiled. From then on, however, I came to hold, almost as a philosophical conviction, the belief: What is society but an individual?”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Osamu Dazai"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-the-plural-of-human-beings/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/osamu-dazai-2813_whole-life_what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-t_2363859.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/osamu-dazai-2813_whole-life_what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-t_2363859.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/osamu-dazai-2813_whole-life_what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-t_2363859.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“What, I wondered, did he mean by “society”? The plural of human beings? Where was the substance of this…” — Osamu Dazai",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "What is society but an individual? [] The ocean is not society; it is individuals. This was how I managed to gain a modicum of freedom from my terror at the illusion of the ocean called the world.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Osamu Dazai"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/what-is-society-but-an-individual-the-ocean-is-not-society-it-is/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/osamu-dazai-2813_community_what-is-society-but-an-individual-the-oc_2748167.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/osamu-dazai-2813_community_what-is-society-but-an-individual-the-oc_2748167.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d4/osamu-dazai-2813_community_what-is-society-but-an-individual-the-oc_2748167.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“What is society but an individual? [] The ocean is not society; it is individuals. This was how I managed to…” — Osamu Dazai",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/",
            "name": "Society Individual Quotes by Osamu Dazai",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cff/osamu-dazai-2813_whole-life_what-i-wondered-did-he-mean-by-society-t_2363859.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Society Individual quotes by Osamu Dazai. Plus more from Osamu Dazai and more Society Individual sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Society Individual",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Osamu Dazai",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-individual/osamu-dazai/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
