a samurai is a total human being, whereas a man who is completely absorbed in his technical skill has degenerated into a ‘function’, one cog in a machine.
Yukio MishimaRead
What I wanted was to die among strangers, untroubled, beneath a cloudless sky. And yet my desire differed from the sentiments of that ancient Greek who wanted to die under the brilliant sun. What I wanted was some natural, spontaneous suicide. I wanted a death like that of a fox, not yet well versed in cunning, that walks carelessly along a mountain path and is shot by a hunter because of its own stupidity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire for a peaceful, untroubled death, contrasting with the glory often associated with death in the sun.
Yukio Mishima's quote reflects a profound contemplation on death, desiring it to be a natural and quiet experience, akin to that of a fox unaware of its fate. This perspective can evoke thoughts on the nature of existence, the inevitability of death, and the juxtaposition between a noble demise and one that is simple and perhaps even foolish, challenging traditional notions of heroism in death.
Themes
DeathNatureExistencePhilosophyFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a discussion on the philosophical views of death and life.
More from Yukio Mishima
All quotes →When a captive lion steps out of his cage, he comes into a wider world than the lion who has known only the wilds. While he was in captivity, there were only two worlds for him - the world of the cage, and the world outside the cage. Now he is free. He roars. He attacks people. He eats them. Yet he is not satisfied, for there is no third world that is neither the world of the cage nor the world outside the cage.
Yukio MishimaRead
…the samurai ethic is a political science of the heart, designed to control such discouragement and fatigue in order to avoid showing them to others. It was thought more important to look healthy than to be healthy, and more important to seem bold and daring than to be so. This view of morality, since it is physiologically based on the special vanity peculiar to men, is perhaps the supreme male view of morality.
Yukio MishimaRead
Young people get the foolish idea that what is new for them must be new for everybody else too. No matter how unconventional they get, they're just repeating what others before them have done.
Yukio MishimaRead
Is there not a sort of remorse that precedes sin? Was it remorse at the very fact that I existed?
Yukio MishimaRead
Anything can become excusable when seen from the standpoint of the result
Yukio MishimaRead
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