I want to spend my time with people who don't look to be respected. But such good people won't want to spend their time with me.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the desire to connect with genuine people, yet acknowledges the difficulty in finding mutual appreciation.
Osamu Dazai expresses a longing to surround himself with authentic individuals who do not seek validation or respect in superficial ways. However, he is also aware of a potential irony—that such genuinely good people may be disinclined to spend time with him, possibly due to his own insecurities or circumstances. This highlights the complex dynamics of human relationships and the challenges of forming meaningful connections.
In practice
This quote can resonate in a speech about the importance of authentic relationships.
I soon came to understand that drink, tobacco and prostitutes were all great means if dissipating (even for a few moments) my dread for human beings. I came even to feel that if I had to sell every last possession to obtain these means of escape, it would be well worth it.
In my case such an expression as 'to be fallen for' or even 'to be loved' is not in the least appropriate; perhaps it describes the situation more accurately to say that I was 'looked after.
Unhappiness. There are all kinds of unhappy people in the world. I suppose it would be no exaggeration to say that the world is composed entirely of unhappy people. But those people can fight their unhappiness with society fairly and squarly, and society for its part easily understands and sympathizes with such struggles. My unhappiness stemmed entirely from my own vices, and I had no way of fighting anybody.
As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives. The one thing I must avoid is becoming offensive in their eyes: I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky.
To wait. In our lives we know joy, anger, sorrow, and a hundred other emotions, but these emotions all together occupy a bare one percent of our time. The remaining ninety-nine percent is just living in waiting. I wait in momentary expectation, feeling as though my breasts are being crushed, for the sound in the corridor of the footsteps of happiness. Empty. Oh, life is too painful, the reality that confirms the universal belief that it is best not to be born.
It would seem that the more irresponsible and crafty one is, the more likely one is to have a talent for storytelling.
Is there anything as incredible as the love story of your own parents? Anything as hard to grasp as the fact that those two over-the-hill players, permanently on the disabled list, were once in the starting lineup? It's impossible to imagine my father, who in my experience was aroused mainly by the lowering of interest rates, suffering the acute, adolescent passions of the flesh.
Now, look, baby, 'Union' is spelled with 5 letters. It is not a four-letter word.
No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg.
Make your interactions with people transformational, not just transactional.
...and when you’ve known me longer, you’ll learn that I mean everything I say.” “Even the lies?” “Especially the lies.
There is an idea abroad among moral people that they should make their neighbors good. One person I have to make good: Myself. But my duty to my neighbor is much more nearly expressed by saying that I have to make him happy if I may.
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