Kobo Abe: 20 quotes from a Japanese classic
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March 7 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Japanese writer Kobo Abe, the author of philosophical novels, the heroes of which, no matter what strange circumstances they find themselves in, invariably come to the conclusion that it is impossible to influence the absurdity of life, but you can change your attitude towards it. We re-read Kobo Abe’s texts and found out how to do it.
1
You can only adapt to a certain limit. Moreover, this should be a means, but in no case an end.
“Woman in the Sands”
2
Yes, apparently the purpose of existence is the waste of freedom. Man often acts as if the purpose of life is to accumulate freedom, but is this not an illusion stemming from a chronic lack of freedom? It is precisely because people set such a goal for themselves that they begin to talk about the end of the Universe, and one of two things: either they turn into misers, or they become religious fanatics.
“Alien Face”
3
What is a state beyond loneliness? This is a state in which a person acquires companions, but this is not so easy to do. Therefore, to begin with, they make enemies. To put it another way, we first identify those who are outside the community.
“Inner Border”
4
It is not the iron gates, not the blank walls, but the small peephole in the cell door that most reminds a person of captivity.
“Woman in the Sands”
5
You yourself change, and the outside world changes along with you—there are no other changes. And these changes are so enormous that even the most sensational news cannot keep up with them.
“Box Man”
6
Things in the nude, not refined by language, are the territory of demons. There is no point in such things. There are no cause-and-effect relationships, logic, ideas. It is similar to the world of a baby, which consists of disparate fragments, or to the torn picture of the world of a schizophrenic. This situation is like Medusa, who turns everything she looks at into stone. Words are a mirror shield that protects us from the spell of Medusa.
“Does visual imagery break down language barriers?”
7
As long as there is something in this world that can be violated—that can be broken, torn, burned, that can be bled, that can be strangled—the monster can only commit violence endlessly.
“Alien Face”
8
Carlyle seems to have said: the cassock makes the priest, the uniform makes the soldier. Maybe the face of a monster creates the heart of a monster. The face of a monster condemns one to loneliness, and this loneliness creates the soul of a monster.
“Alien Face”
9
In ancient times, executioners, defrocked men, inquisitors, priests, priests of secret orders and, finally, robbers could not do without a mask; they absolutely needed it. The mask had not only a negative purpose – to simply hide the face, but, undoubtedly, also a much more positive purpose – by hiding the appearance of a person, breaking the connection between the face and the heart, freeing him from the spiritual ties connecting him with people. <...> But if you free yourself from all spiritual bonds and gain limitless freedom, then it is easy to become limitlessly cruel.
“Alien Face”
10
The fastest way to get used to it yourself is to teach others.
“Alien Face”
eleven
A person does not necessarily understand what he sees, but even less does he understand what he does not see.
“Discovery of America”
12
It is not at all necessary that only plans nurtured for a long time be implemented. Since it is impossible to realize the path along which thought moves when developing a plan, such unexpected insight has a basis in itself. Unexpected decisions have a much better chance of success than those that are endlessly thought about and weighed.
“Woman in the Sands”
13
You can get used to simply waiting, devoid of any purpose, and when the time of hibernation ends, it turns out that the light has blinded you and you cannot go outside. They say: a beggar for three days is a beggar forever… Internal rust appears surprisingly quickly.
“Woman in the Sands”
14
To a person of the future, his time may seem wonderful, but to an ordinary person of today it would certainly seem unsuitable for everyday life. Our ideas about the future are too limited and conservative. In order to boldly look into the depths of time, we must decisively abandon these ideas and muster the courage to “get off the ground.”
Interview with Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
15
There is no point in aggravating your fears. You should not fall into despair at the sight of a lock without finding out for sure whether there is a key to it or not.
“Woman in the Sands”
16
When they look at you, and you do something disgusting, this disgusting stains those who are looking to the same extent… To be seen and to be seen – there is no need to build a wall between these two concepts.
“Woman in the Sands”
17
A clever criminal skillfully throws around a lot of false evidence to hide the real ones. But you can only find real evidence by examining false ones.
“Discovery of America”
18
I cried, but never left my radios and televisions. Moreover, I was well aware that no matter how hard I tried to extract the truth from this news, it was impossible to even get close to it. Perhaps what I needed was not the truth, not an understanding of what was happening, but only a form—news contained in standard phrases.
“Box Man”
19
Patience is far from capitulation… On the contrary, when you begin to perceive patience as defeat, then real defeat begins.
“Woman in the Sands”
20
Why does everyone need news?.. Maybe in order to be fully armed at a critical moment, although it is known in advance that everything in the world is changing? I used to think so too. But that’s a lie. A person listens to news only to calm down. No matter how amazing the news is given to him, if a person listens to it, then he is alive – that’s the point. The truly amazing news is the latest news that announces the end of the world. Everyone’s ultimate dream is to be able to hear it.
“Box Man”
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