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.
Interpretation
Unhappiness often arises from personal flaws rather than external circumstances.
In this quote, Osamu Dazai reflects on the nature of unhappiness, suggesting that while many people experience it, their struggles are often relatable and understood within society. However, he emphasizes a personal understanding of his own unhappiness, which he identifies as stemming from his vices, implying that inner conflicts and self-inflicted struggles can be more isolating than those faced with societal challenges.
In practice
In a discussion about mental health awareness, one could refer to Dazai's insights on personal vices contributing to unhappiness.
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.
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.
It would seem that the more irresponsible and crafty one is, the more likely one is to have a talent for storytelling.
I believed that there was a God because I was told it by my grandmother and later by other adults. But when I found that I knew not only that there was God but that I was a child of God, when I understood that, when I comprehended that, more than that, when I internalized that, ingested that, I became courageous.
A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent--sweet, not lasting; The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more.
Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I'd house all the poor scholars and make them beam with smiles
Self-sacrifice, not self-assertion, is the law of the highest universe.
Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom, but an oceanic circle whose centre will be the individual.
The body is an instrument, the mind its function, the witness and reward of its operation.
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