Spring Snow (The Sea of Fertility #1)

by Yukio Mishima

Those who lack imagination have no choice but to base their conclusions on the reality they see around them. But on the other hand, those who are imaginative have a tendency to build fortified castles they have designed themselves, and to seal off every window in them.

Little by little the beetle kept edging its glittering body closer to him as if its pointless progress were a lesson that when traversing a world of unceasing flux, the only thing of importance was to radiate beauty.

A man may be hard to persuade by rational argument while he is easily swayed by a display of passion, even if it is feigned.