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“It is because
the blossoms scatter
that they are splendid.
In this world of sorrow,
what lasts for long?”
― The Tales of Ise
the blossoms scatter
that they are splendid.
In this world of sorrow,
what lasts for long?”
― The Tales of Ise
“Age has more wisdom than youth, just as youth has more beauty than does age.”
― A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees
― A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees
“If you are determined to do a certain thing, you must not grieve at the failure of other things, nor be ashamed at the scorn of other people. Without giving up everything for it, the one great thing cannot be accomplished.”
― Essays in Idleness
― Essays in Idleness
“A beginner should not hold two arrows,' his teacher told him. 'You will be careless with the first, knowing you have a second. You must always be determined to hit the target with the single arrow you shoot, and have no thought beyond this.”
― A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees
― A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees
“Speech is dangerous in Japan, precisely because so many unspoken rules hover around it. It’s generally a bad idea to use the word “you”—too intrusive—and there are said to be twenty ways of saying “I.” Women are expected to refer to themselves in the third person, men not. A single verb in Yasunari Kawabata’s short novel Snow Country is translated in twenty-nine different ways because what we would render as “I think” can in Japan mean “I remember,” “I long for” or twenty-seven other things.”
― A Beginner's Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations
― A Beginner's Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations
Gurkiratsingh’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Gurkiratsingh’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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