How Do You Live?

by Genzaburo Yoshino

Nonetheless, to see yourself as a single molecule within the wide world—that is by no means a small discovery.

You know Copernicus and his heliocentric theory, don’t you? The idea that the earth moves around the sun? Until Copernicus advanced his theory, people back then believed that the sun and the stars circled around the earth, as their own eyes told them. This was in part because, in accordance with the teachings of the Christian church, they also believed that the earth was the center of the universe. But if you think one step further, it’s because human beings have a natural tendency to look at and think of things as if they were always at the center. And yet Copernicus kept running up against astronomical facts that he couldn’t explain this way, no matter how he tried. And after racking his brain over these in many attempts to explain them, he finally resolved to consider whether it might be the earth that circled in orbit around the sun. When he thought about it that way, all the various hitherto inexplicable matters fell into place under one neat principle.

there may be nothing more deep-rooted and stubborn than the human tendency to look at and think of things with themselves at the center.

In the world at large, people who are able to free themselves from this self-centered way of thinking are truly uncommon. Above all, when one stands to gain or lose, it is exceptionally difficult to step outside of oneself and make correct judgments, and thus one could say that people who are able to think Copernicus-style even about these things are exceptionally great people. Most people slip into a self-interested way of thinking, become unable to understand the facts of the matter, and end up seeing only that which betters their own circumstances.

Still, as long as we held fast to the thought that our own planet was at the center of the universe, humanity was unable to understand the true nature of the universe—and likewise, when people judge their own affairs with only themselves at the center, they end up unable to know the true nature of society. The larger truth never reveals itself to them.

To tell the truth, one look at Uragawa was probably all anyone would need to feel that a whole lot of teasing might not be out of the question.

That's not a nice thing to say now, is it?

excused

You can describe bullying without having to use it as the main voice.

People are each limited to what a single individual can experience on their own. But people have language.

There is nothing more beautiful than people nurturing goodwill toward their fellow beings. And those are the human relations that humans truly deserve.

goodness that is lacking in the spirit of heroism is often empty as well.

Agree to disagree

The joy of having good friends came flooding back into Copper’s chest.