Quotes from Geisha, a Life

“Cleaning is considered a vital part of the training process in all traditional Japanese disciplines and is a required practice for any novice. It is accorded spiritual significance. Purifying an unclean place is believed to purify the mind.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“And we are not mountaintop sages who can live by consuming mist.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“Kimono, the. Costumes of our profession, are sacred to us. They are the emblems of our calling. Kimono embody beautyas we understand!!!”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“So we support the dance but it does not support us.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“Non è mai giusto colpire altre persone o causare loro del dolore.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“Ricordo ancora dei momenti magnifici, in cui la famiglia era al completo...non immaginavo neppure lontanamente che da lì a breve quegli idilliaci intermezzi sarebbero finiti.
Eppure presto accadde.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“Gli abiti che usiamo per la nostra professione per noi sono sacri. Rappresentano l'emblema della nostra vocazione. Realizzati con i tessuti più belli e costosi del mondo, i kimono incarnano la bellezza per come noi la concepiamo. Ciascun kimono è un'opera d'arte unica e colei che lo possiede partecipa attivamente alla sua creazione. In linea generale, si può dire molto di una persona dalla qualità del kimono che indossa: stato economico, gusto, retroterra familiare, personalità. A fronte di piccole variazioni nel taglio, c'è un'enorme varietà di colori e motivi nei materiali usati per realizzare ogni abito. Scegliere un kimono adatto alla situazione in cui verrà indossato è un'arte. Il giusto abbinamento in base alle stagioni è fondamentale. I canoni del gusto tradizionale giapponese dividono l'anno in ventotto stagioni, ciascuna delle quali possiede i propri simboli. I colori e i motivi del kimono e dell'obi dovrebbero rispecchiare la stagione: l'usignolo a fine marzo, per esempio, o il crisantemo nei primi giorni di novembre.”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

“fiction has served to propagate the notion that courtesans ply their trade in the area and that geiko spend the night with their customers. Once an idea like this is planted in the general culture it takes on a life of its own. I understand that there are some scholars of Japan in foreign countries who also believe these misconceptions to be true. But”
― Mineko Iwasaki, quote from Geisha, a Life

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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.