The labor into which a heart has poured its whole love--where will it have its say, to excite and inspire, and when?
Yasunari KawabataRead
Lunatics have no age. If we were crazy, you and I, we might be a great deal younger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that a state of madness can free us from the constraints of age and societal expectations.
Yasunari Kawabata implies that conventional perceptions of age can be transcended by embracing a more liberated and unconventional mindset. He proposes that if we were to adopt a 'crazy' perspective, we might experience life with greater vitality and youthfulness, indicating that the essence of youth is more about attitude and mindset than mere chronological age.
Themes
AgeMadnessYouthMindsetFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about embracing creativity, one could quote this to encourage thinking outside of societal norms.
More from Yasunari Kawabata
All quotes →The woman was silent, her eyes on the floor. Shimamura had come to a point where he knew he was only parading his masculine shamelessness, and yet it seemed likely enough that the woman was familiar with the failing and need not be shocked by it. He looked at her. Perhaps it was the rich lashes of the downcast eyes that made her face seem warm and sensuous. She shook her head very slightly, and again a faint blush spread over her face.
Yasunari KawabataRead
The road was frozen. The village lay quiet under the cold sky. Komako hitched up the skirt of her kimono and tucked it into her obi. The moon shone like a blade frozen in blue ice.
Yasunari KawabataRead
The winter moon becomes a companion, the heart of the priest, sunk in meditation upon religion and philosophy, there in the mountain hall, is engaged in a delicate interplay and exchange with the moon; and it is this of which the poet sings.
Yasunari KawabataRead
Put your soul in the palm of my hand for me to look at, like a crystal jewel. I'll sketch it in words.
Yasunari KawabataRead
But, drawn to her at that moment, he felt a quiet like the voice of the rain flow over him. He knew well enough that for her it was in fact no waste of effort, but somehow the final determination that it was had the effect of distilling and purifying the woman's existence.
Yasunari KawabataRead
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