--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He had never looked forward to the wisdom…" description: "\"He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other vaunted benefits of old age. Would he be able to die young—and if possible free of all pain? A grac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/yukio-mishima-1418_able_he-had-never-looked-forward-to-the-wisdo_2469371.jpg" --- # He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other… ![“He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other vaunted benefits of old age. Would he be able to die young—and if possible free of all pain? A graceful death—as a richly patterned kimono, thrown carelessly across a polished table, slides unobtrusively down into the darkness of the floor…” quote by Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/yukio-mishima-1418_able_he-had-never-looked-forward-to-the-wisdo_2469371.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/yukio-mishima-1418_able_he-had-never-looked-forward-to-the-wisdo_2469371.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/yukio-mishima-1418_able_he-had-never-looked-forward-to-the-wisdo_2469371.jpg) > “He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other vaunted benefits of old age. Would he be able to die young—and if possible free of all pain? A graceful death—as a richly patterned kimono, thrown carelessly across a polished table, slides unobtrusively down into the darkness of the floor beneath. A death marked by elegance.” [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He longs for a graceful, painless death, likening it to a kimono falling elegantly. **In simple terms:** Desires a dignified, painless death. Key Takeaway Contemplate the meaning of a graceful ending. Themes mortality beauty acceptance Mood melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - elderly reflections - end‑of‑life care - artistic expression - philosophical contemplation Key Concepts existentialism aesthetics death Questions to Reflect On - What does a “graceful” death look like for you? - Can beauty coexist with mortality? A Different Perspective Romanticizing death may ignore suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Elegance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elegance/) [Kimonos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kimonos/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“No life form on this planet undergoes such a slow and graceful death as the tobacco leaf.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mcginty/no-life-form-on-this-planet-undergoes-such-a-slow-and-graceful-death/) Mark McGinty > [“How do you do it?” you ask. It’s hard to imagine. Not being able to die even when you want to, even as everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/how-do-you-do-it-you-ask-it-s-hard-to-imagine-not-being-able-to-die/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [May be able to die those who didn't know how to live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-maria-barbosa-du-bocage/may-be-able-to-die-those-who-didn-t-know-how-to-live/) Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage > [“I think: by the time I'm old, nobody will be able to die any more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-baume/i-think-by-the-time-i-m-old-nobody-will-be-able-to-die-any-more/) [Sara Baume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-baume/) > [“No, there's going to be no even tenor with me. The more uneven it is the happier I shall be. And when my time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-halliburton/no-there-s-going-to-be-no-even-tenor-with-me-the-more-uneven-it-is-2/) [Richard Halliburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-halliburton/) > [No, there's going to be no even tenor with me. The more uneven it is the happier I shall be. And when my time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-halliburton/no-there-s-going-to-be-no-even-tenor-with-me-the-more-uneven-it-is/) [Richard Halliburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-halliburton/) > [“SoulShared. Bonded. Completed. Able to die. And still unable to love. This”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-ni-coileain/soulshared-bonded-completed-able-to-die-and-still-unable-to-love-this/) [Rory Ni Coileain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-ni-coileain/) > [She was sitting cross-legged on her bed in her white kimono, writing in a notebook with an ink pen she dipped in a bottle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/she-was-sitting-cross-legged-on-her-bed-in-her-white-kimono-writing/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [Some of the kimonos took as long as four to five months to make, with all the layers that go into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-atwood/some-of-the-kimonos-took-as-long-as-four-to-five-months-to-make-with/) [Colleen Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-atwood/) > [I think the silhouette of the kimono costume will become engraved in people's minds. I do think there'll be lots of red accents in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-atwood/i-think-the-silhouette-of-the-kimono-costume-will-become-engraved-in/) [Colleen Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-atwood/) > [Sabi is the color of haikai. It is different from tranquility. For example, if an old man dresses up in armor and helmet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/sabi-is-the-color-of-haikai-it-is-different-from-tranquility-for/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Women who wear kimonos, when the fight, they have to keep their knees together, and when they use a sword, they have to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-liu/women-who-wear-kimonos-when-the-fight-they-have-to-keep-their-knees/) [Lucy Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-liu/) > [I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking. Recording the man shaving at the window opposite and the woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/i-am-a-camera-with-its-shutter-open-quite-passive-recording-not/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [The neck is kind of what's sexy in Japan, so you have to have the kimono a little bit back. It was just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-liu/the-neck-is-kind-of-what-s-sexy-in-japan-so-you-have-to-have-the/) [Lucy Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-liu/) > [It's more than just a dress; it's a spirit. The wrap dress was an interesting cultural phenomenon, and one that has lasted 30 years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-von-furstenberg/it-s-more-than-just-a-dress-it-s-a-spirit-the-wrap-dress-was-an/) [Diane von Furstenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-von-furstenberg/) ## More by Yukio Mishima > [When a captive lion steps out of his cage, he comes into a wider world than the lion who has known only the wilds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/when-a-captive-lion-steps-out-of-his-cage-he-comes-into-a-wider-world/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Suddenly the full long wail of a ship's horn surged through the open window and flooded the dim room - a cry of boundless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/suddenly-the-full-long-wail-of-a-ship-s-horn-surged-through-the-open/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [The purest evil that human efforts could attain, in other words, was probably achieved by those men who made their wills the same and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/the-purest-evil-that-human-efforts-could-attain-in-other-words-was/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [“Because in the pupils of his eyes there lingered the mysterious and eternal horizon that the sea leaves as a keepsake deep in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/because-in-the-pupils-of-his-eyes-there-lingered-the-mysterious-and/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [As usual, it occurred to me that words were the only thing that could possibly save me from this situation. This was a characteristic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/as-usual-it-occurred-to-me-that-words-were-the-only-thing-that-could/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Mine was the unbearable jealousy a cultured pearl must feel toward a genuine one. Or can there be such a thing in this world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/mine-was-the-unbearable-jealousy-a-cultured-pearl-must-feel-toward-a/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [“Svoju patnju, koju prihvatam, moram da prihvatim kao dragocenost. Ne postoji nijedan ispirač zlata koji iskopava samo zlato. Ispirač vadi pesak sa korita reke,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/svoju-patnju-koju-prihvatam-moram-da-prihvatim-kao-dragocenost-ne/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [I am one who has always been interested only in the edges of the body and the spirit, the outlying regions of the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/i-am-one-who-has-always-been-interested-only-in-the-edges-of-the-body/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Just let matters slide. How much better to accept each sweet drop of the honey that was Time, than to stoop to the vulgarity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/just-let-matters-slide-how-much-better-to-accept-each-sweet-drop-of/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [“Great cloud masses boiled up, immense in their quiet majesty. They seemed to drink up all the noise below, even the sound of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/great-cloud-masses-boiled-up-immense-in-their-quiet-majesty-they/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [The special quality of hell is to see everything clearly down to the last detail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/the-special-quality-of-hell-is-to-see-everything-clearly-down-to-the/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [It is a rather risky matter to discuss a happiness that has no need of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/it-is-a-rather-risky-matter-to-discuss-a-happiness-that-has-no-need/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [“Again, Saburo Tominaga once went to the Shirakawa Prefectural Office to cash his brother Morikuni’s bonus bond and, unwilling to touch paper currency defiled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/again-saburo-tominaga-once-went-to-the-shirakawa-prefectural-office/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [“To be strong and true had been the most important task he had set himself since early childhood. Once, as a boy, he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/to-be-strong-and-true-had-been-the-most-important-task-he-had-set/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [What transforms this world is — knowledge. Do you see what I mean? Nothing else can change anything in this world. Knowledge alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/what-transforms-this-world-is-knowledge-do-you-see-what-i-mean/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) [Explore all 206 Yukio Mishima quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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