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Besides, there was surely much to admire in the idea of ‘an auction of prestige’, as the elder daughter called it. One wonders why things are not settled more often by such means. How so much more honourable is such a contest, in which one’s moral conduct and achievement are brought as witnesses rather than the size of one’s purse.
‘When you are young, there are many things which appear dull and lifeless. But as you get older, you will find these are the very things that are most important to you.’
This is what makes me angry. Brave young men die for stupid causes, and the real culprits are still with us.
the ability to think and judge for myself, even if it meant going against the sway of those around me.
Loyalty has to be earned. There’s too much made of loyalty. All too often men talk of loyalty and follow blindly. I for one have no wish to lead my life like that.’
That while it was right to look up to teachers, it was always important to question their authority. The Takeda experience taught me never to follow the crowd blindly, but to consider carefully the direction in which I was being pushed. And if there’s one thing I’ve tried to encourage you all to do, it’s been to rise above the sway of things.
It’s just that one’s children can be a great worry.’
For indeed, a man who aspires to rise above the mediocre, to be something more than ordinary, surely deserves admiration, even if in the end he fails and loses a fortune on account of his ambitions.
If one has failed only where others have not had the courage or will to try, there is a consolation – indeed, a deep satisfaction – to be gained from this observation when looking back over one’s life.
The best things, he always used to say, are put together of a night and vanish with the morning. What people call the floating world,
It’s hard to appreciate the beauty of a world when one doubts its very validity.’
when I look back over my life and see I have devoted it to the task of capturing the unique beauty of that world, I believe I will be well satisfied. And no man will make me believe I’ve wasted my time.’
It is not necessary that artists always occupy a decadent and enclosed world.
For their kind do not know what it is to risk everything in the endeavour to rise above the mediocre.
