Quotes by : Kōbō Abe

One measure of a civilization, in fact, is the percentage of misfits in its society.

Do you shovel to survive, or survive to shovel?

Just as trees bear their fruit before winter, just as bamboo grass produces its seeds just before it....

Clinging to one’s outward appearance interferes with living.

When will you ever accept the true ugliness of health?

Defeat begins with the fear that one had lost.

When he saw the vista of the street reflected in the mirror in which he was looking, he was terror stricken.....

There wasn't a single item of importance [in the newspaper]. A tower of illusion, all of it, made of....

It would seem that marsupials are poor imitations of full-fledged mammals. Their inadequacy gives them....

The future is forever a projection of the present.