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.
Interpretation
Life is largely defined by waiting for moments of happiness, while most of our existence is filled with pain and emptiness.
In this quote, Osamu Dazai reflects on the human experience, emphasizing that our emotions, though vivid and intense, only fill a small portion of our lives. The overwhelming majority of our existence is spent in a state of waiting, often filled with an awareness of the pain and emptiness that life can bring, leading to a profound sense of despair about existence itself. Dazai suggests that the anticipation of happiness is overshadowed by the suffering that accompanies daily life.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a reflective discussion about the nature of happiness and the human condition.
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.
It would seem that the more irresponsible and crafty one is, the more likely one is to have a talent for storytelling.
Thoughts can create such a barrier that even if you are standing before a beautiful flower, you will not be able to see it. Your eyes are covered with layers of thought. To experience the beauty of the flower you have to be in a state of meditation, not in a state of mentation. You have to be silent, utterly silent, not even a flicker of thought - and the beauty explodes, reaches to you from all directions. You are drowned in the beauty of a sunrise, of a starry night, of beautiful trees.
She had the feeling that the door was looking at her, which she knew was silly, and knew on a deeper level was somehow true.
It is a cheap zeal that reserves its passions to combat only the sins and temptations of others.
I don't like the word 'strong,' because a strong character is never an interesting character. A character is made interesting by their vulnerabilities and their weaknesses.
The only thing certain is nothing is certain.
One always has exaggerated ideas about what one doesn't know.
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