Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), born Kimitake Hiraoka, was a Japanese writer, novelist and thinker. He expressed his personal philosophy in his works. He adhered to samurai tradition, expressed ultrapatriotic views, and advocated militarism. He committed ritual suicide called seppuku.

Wisdom & Quotes

• The period of childhood is a stage on which time and space become entangled.

- Confessions of a Mask

• Men had been living a proud life, having felt no need for the spirit - until Christianity invented it.
• For an artist to do creative work, he needs at once physical health and some physiomental ill health. He needs both serenity and gloom.
• Of late, the factual world has been buried under agnosticism, and its mystery has deepened as human society has come to cover a wider territory. Usually the statements of people who have witnessed the same incident contradict one another. An extraordinary incident that shocks the whole society always contains an eternal mystery.
• In all ages, literature aims at an interpretation of the universe and a deep perception of humanity by means of language.

Benjamin L Hooks