Now even if I die, no one will be so grieved as to do himself bodily harm.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the isolation of the speaker’s existence and the lack of deep emotional connections.
In this quote, Osamu Dazai expresses a profound sense of loneliness and detachment from the world. The speaker suggests that even in death, their absence would not invoke a deep sorrow in others, highlighting feelings of insignificance and the existential notion that one’s life may not hold significant value to those around them. This poignant reflection raises questions about the nature of human connections and the impact of one’s life on others.
In practice
During a speech on mental health awareness, one could cite this quote to illustrate feelings of isolation.
I soon came to understand that drink, tobacco and prostitutes were all great means if dissipating (even for a few moments) my dread for human beings. I came even to feel that if I had to sell every last possession to obtain these means of escape, it would be well worth it.
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 with me.
In my case such an expression as 'to be fallen for' or even 'to be loved' is not in the least appropriate; perhaps it describes the situation more accurately to say that I was 'looked after.
Unhappiness. There are all kinds of unhappy people in the world. I suppose it would be no exaggeration to say that the world is composed entirely of unhappy people. But those people can fight their unhappiness with society fairly and squarly, and society for its part easily understands and sympathizes with such struggles. My unhappiness stemmed entirely from my own vices, and I had no way of fighting anybody.
As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives. The one thing I must avoid is becoming offensive in their eyes: I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky.
To wait. In our lives we know joy, anger, sorrow, and a hundred other emotions, but these emotions all together occupy a bare one percent of our time. The remaining ninety-nine percent is just living in waiting. I wait in momentary expectation, feeling as though my breasts are being crushed, for the sound in the corridor of the footsteps of happiness. Empty. Oh, life is too painful, the reality that confirms the universal belief that it is best not to be born.
The easiest rationalization for the refusal to seek the truth is the denial that truth exists.
We so often tend to think our democracies are ruled by procedures and laws, but they are also governed by implicit rules and assumptions and one of them is the ability to feel shame - that you can be shamed.
Money is in some respects life's fire: it is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.
We are our world knowing itself. We can relinquish our separateness. We can come home again - and participate in our world in a richer, more responsible and poignantly beautiful way than before, in our infancy.
Who can live with this Consciousness and not wake frightened at sunrise?
You can share your testimony in many ways, by the words you speak, by the example you set, by the manner in which you live your life.
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