The Flowers of Buffoonery Quotes

“Shame on me for making such a mockery of myself. Blame it on my wounded pride. The fact is that my fear of being ridiculed is so intense I'd rather beat my critics to the punch. That's the epitome of cowardice.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“How cruel of you. What part of what you see here is carefree? If only you could understand the sadness of the ones who grow the delicate flowers of buffoonery, protecting them from but the slightest gust of wind and always on the verge of despair!”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“But in my softness I find peace, however fleeting.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“The next morning was peaceful and clear. The sea was calm. White smoke from the volcano on Oshima, just above the horizon, drifted up into the sky.

Never mind. I hate describing scenery.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“A man crushed by reality puts on a show of endurance. If that's beyond your comprehension, dear reader, then you and I will never understand each other. Life's a farce, so we might as well make it a good one. But real life is a realm that I may never reach. The best that I can hope for is to loiter in the memory of these four days, so steeped with empathy. Four days that count more than five or ten years of my life. Four days that count more than a lifetime.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Welcome to Sadness. Population one.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Even now, I barely have the strength to reread what I've written.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Young people never say anything straight. You can tell they're being honest if they hide behind a laugh.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“This novel was doomed from the start. All posture and no substance. Whether I write one page or a hundred, it amounts to the same thing. Though I knew this from the start.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Beautiful feelings make bad literature. In which case, this precious state of prose is proof that I'm no devil after all. Ah, blessed be the man who coined this phrase! It is a treasure of the language. An author can get away with using it but once in his career. Sad to say. The first time, it's endearing. If you insist on using it a second or a third time, though, dear reader, hiding behind it like a shield, you can expect nothing but misery.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“We're all a bunch of clowns. If you want to see a farce, look in the mirror.
A man crushed by reality puts on a shadow of endurance. If that's beyond your comprehension, dear reader, then you and I will never understand each other. Life's a farce, so we might as well make it a good one.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“It was only natural for Yozo to vacillate when asked about the reason behind his suicide – it was everything to him.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“All my friends have left me. They look back at me with eyes of pity. Come back, friends. Let’s talk together, laugh together. But no, you turn away as if we’ve never met. Speak up, friends. Ask away. I’ll tell you anything. It was me”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“What am I but a tangle of uncertainty and pride?”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Beautiful feelings make bad literature.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Adults are thoroughly schooled in this way of seeing, which makes it quite easy for them to empathize with others. Each teardrop is a source of pride. Young people, it's true, will also sometimes indulge in this kind of trivial emotionality. But if adults acquire this ability only after making compromises with their lives, to put it generously, where do young people pick it up? From junk novels like this one?”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“What am I but a tangle of uncertainty and pride? That just sums up this novel. Ah, why do I hasten to pass judgment on everything? Who instilled me with this sick imperative to pin down every thought?”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“This world can be a boring place. Who can blame them for wanting something exciting to happen?”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“What part of what you see here is carefree? If only you could understand the sadness of the ones who grow the delicate flowers of buffoonery, protecting them from but the slightest gust of wind and always on the verge of despair!”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“To paint something good for once, he said. And said it laughing. Young people never say anything straight. You can tell they're being honest if they hide behind a laugh.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“They’re convinced that if they ever did do something hurtful, they’d either have to kill the other guy or die themselves it's why they avoid conflict as a rule. These friends know all kinds of expressions that could smooth things over at least ten different gradations for conveying what essentially means no. Long before any type of conflict can emerge they are exchanging gestures of diplomacy. And while they dance across the surface with their smiles and their handshakes in; their minds they are both saying the same thing: what an idiot!”
― Osamu Dazai , The Flowers of Buffoonery

“And then - no, that's all I have.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“In their conversations, "major" was frequently employed as an intensifying adjective. This world can be a boring place. Who can blame them for wanting something exciting to happen?”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“The fact is that my fear of being ridiculed is so intense I'd rather beat my critics to the punch.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“A man crushed by reality puts on a show of endurance. If that's beyond your comprehension, dear reader, then you and I will never understand each other.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Something beautiful happens when a human being surrenders.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Ah! Are not all authors the same? So quick to dress up their confessions. I barely qualify as human. Will I ever be a functional member of society? Even as I write these words, I worry how the sentences will sound.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“They’re convinced that if they ever did do something hurtful, they’d either have to kill the other guy or die themselves it's why they avoid conflict as a rule. These friends know all kinds of expressions that could smooth things over at least ten different gradations for conveying what essentially means no. Long before any type of conflict can emerge they are exchanging gestures of diplomacy. And while they dance across the surface with their smiles and their handshakes in their minds they are both saying the same thing: what an idiot!”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Surely by now, dear reader, you’re disgusted with these young men for
the carefree way in which they pass the time, as if one among them had not
just killed another human being, though I suspect this new development
will elicit shouts of joy. Serves him right, etc. How cruel of you. What part
of what you see here is carefree? If only you could understand the sadness
of the ones who grow the delicate flowers of buffoonery, protecting them
from but the slightest gust of wind and always on the verge of despair!”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery

“Alas, a novel must be written from a place of innocence! What's that you say? Beautiful feelings make bad literature? Bullshit.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery