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83 Yukio Mishima Quotes That Will Challenge Your Credence

Famous As: One of the Most Important Japanese Authors of the 20th Century
Born On: 1925
Died On: 1970
Born In: Yotsuya, Tokyo, Japan
Died At Age: 45
Yukio Mishima was an eminent Japanese playwright, author, poet, film director, nationalist, model, actor, and founder of the 'Tatenokai.' He is regarded as one of the most illustrious 20th-century writers. In 1968, he was also considered for the ‘Nobel Prize in Literature,’ but the award was given to Yasunari Kawabata. Some of his notable works include, ‘The Temple of the Golden Pavilion,’ ‘Sun and Steel,’ and ‘Confessions of a Mask.’ His thoughts, writings and works focused on political change, sexuality and death, displaying a perfect combination of traditional and modern aesthetics and that knew no cultural boundaries. Following is an inspiring collection of sayings and quotations by Yukio Mishima, which have been extracted from his writings, thoughts, work, and life. We bring to you the famous quotes and thoughts by Yukio Mishima that have been curated from his plays, books, movies, writings, works and life.
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True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys.

True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys.

Yukio Mishima
Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood.

Perfect purity is possible if you turn your life into a line of poetry written with a splash of blood.

Yukio Mishima
Beauty is something that burns the hand when you touch it.

Beauty is something that burns the hand when you touch it.

Yukio Mishima
Young people get the foolish idea that what is new for them must be new for everybody else too. No matter how unconventional they get, they're just repeating what others before them have done.

Young people get the foolish idea that what is new for them must be new for everybody else too. No matter how unconventional they get, they're just repeating what others before them have done.

Yukio Mishima
Nobody even imagines how well one can lie about the state of one’s own heart.

Nobody even imagines how well one can lie about the state of one’s own heart.

Yukio Mishima
Possessing by letting go of things was a secret of ownership unknown to youth.

Possessing by letting go of things was a secret of ownership unknown to youth.

Yukio Mishima
We live in an age in which there is no heroic death.

We live in an age in which there is no heroic death.

Yukio Mishima
When silence is prolonged over a certain period of time, it takes on new meaning.

When silence is prolonged over a certain period of time, it takes on new meaning.

Yukio Mishima
The special quality of hell is to see everything clearly down to the last detail.

The special quality of hell is to see everything clearly down to the last detail.

Yukio Mishima
I still have no way to survive but to keep writing one line, one more line, one more line...

I still have no way to survive but to keep writing one line, one more line, one more line...

Yukio Mishima
We are not wounded so deeply when betrayed by the things we hope for as when betrayed by things we try our best to despise.
In such betrayal comes the dagger in the back.

We are not wounded so deeply when betrayed by the things we hope for as when betrayed by things we try our best to despise. In such betrayal comes the dagger in the back.

Yukio Mishima
Anything can become excusable when seen from the standpoint of the result

Anything can become excusable when seen from the standpoint of the result

Yukio Mishima
If the world changed, i could not exist, and if i changed, the world could not exist

If the world changed, i could not exist, and if i changed, the world could not exist

Yukio Mishima
...living is merely the chaos of existence...

...living is merely the chaos of existence...

Yukio Mishima
The instant that the blade tore open his flesh, the bright disk of the sun soared up and exploded behind his eyelids.

The instant that the blade tore open his flesh, the bright disk of the sun soared up and exploded behind his eyelids.

Yukio Mishima
A samurai is a total human being, whereas a man who is completely absorbed in his technical skill has degenerated into a ‘function’, one cog in a machine.

A samurai is a total human being, whereas a man who is completely absorbed in his technical skill has degenerated into a ‘function’, one cog in a machine.

Yukio Mishima
...of all the kinds of decay in this world, decadent purity is the most malignant.

...of all the kinds of decay in this world, decadent purity is the most malignant.

Yukio Mishima
Other people must be destroyed. In order that I might truly face the sun, the world itself must be destroyed....

Other people must be destroyed. In order that I might truly face the sun, the world itself must be destroyed....

Yukio Mishima
Mine was the unbearable jealousy a cultured pearl must feel toward a genuine one. Or can there be such a thing in this world as a man who is jealous of the woman who loves him, precisely because of her love?

Mine was the unbearable jealousy a cultured pearl must feel toward a genuine one. Or can there be such a thing in this world as a man who is jealous of the woman who loves him, precisely because of her love?

Yukio Mishima
There isn't any fear in existence itself, or any uncertainty, but living creates it.

There isn't any fear in existence itself, or any uncertainty, but living creates it.

Yukio Mishima
There's a huge seal called 'impossibility' pasted all over this world. And don't ever forget that we're the only ones who can tear it off once and for all.

There's a huge seal called 'impossibility' pasted all over this world. And don't ever forget that we're the only ones who can tear it off once and for all.

Yukio Mishima
When people concentrate on the idea of beauty, they are, without realizing it, confronted with the darkest thoughts that exist in this world. That, I suppose, is how human beings are made.

When people concentrate on the idea of beauty, they are, without realizing it, confronted with the darkest thoughts that exist in this world. That, I suppose, is how human beings are made.

Yukio Mishima
For clearly it is impossible to touch eternity with one hand and life with the other.

For clearly it is impossible to touch eternity with one hand and life with the other.

Yukio Mishima
History knew the truth. History was the most inhuman product of humanity.It scooped up the whole of human will and, like the goddess Kali in Calcutta, dripped blood from its mouth as it bit and crunched.

History knew the truth. History was the most inhuman product of humanity.It scooped up the whole of human will and, like the goddess Kali in Calcutta, dripped blood from its mouth as it bit and crunched.

Yukio Mishima
A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything

A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything

Yukio Mishima
He felt that taking naps was much more beneficial than confronting catastrophes.

He felt that taking naps was much more beneficial than confronting catastrophes.

Yukio Mishima
For a long time I had not approached the forbidden fruit called happiness, but it was now tempting me with a melancholy persistence. I felt as though Sonoko were an abyss above which I stood poised.

For a long time I had not approached the forbidden fruit called happiness, but it was now tempting me with a melancholy persistence. I felt as though Sonoko were an abyss above which I stood poised.

Yukio Mishima
I cried sobbingly until at last those visions reeking with blood came to comfort me. And then I surrendered myself to them, to those deplorably brutal visions, my most intimate friends.

I cried sobbingly until at last those visions reeking with blood came to comfort me. And then I surrendered myself to them, to those deplorably brutal visions, my most intimate friends.

Yukio Mishima
Still immersed in his dream, he drank down the tepid tea. It tasted bitter. Glory, as anyone knows, is bitter stuff.

Still immersed in his dream, he drank down the tepid tea. It tasted bitter. Glory, as anyone knows, is bitter stuff.

Yukio Mishima
The cynicism that regards hero worship as comical is always shadowed by a sense of physical inferiority

The cynicism that regards hero worship as comical is always shadowed by a sense of physical inferiority

Yukio Mishima