Quotes from Grotesque

“For a girl, appearance can be a powerful form of oppression. No matter how intelligent a girl may be, no matter her many talents, these attributes are not easily discerned. Brains and talent will never stand up against a girl who is clearly physically attractive.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“In order to induce the process of decay, water is necessary. I think that, in the case of women, men are the water.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“A woman who does not know herself has no choice other than to live with other people’s evaluations. But no one can adapt perfectly to public opinion. And herein lies the source of their destruction.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“If people can't stand being alone, they have no choice but to die”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“My talent was the uncompromising ability to feel spite.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“I suppose I’m the one responsible for destroying myself.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“A women who does not know herself has no choice other than to live with other people's evaluations.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Men live by rules they've made for themselves. And among those rules is one specifying that women are merely commodities for men to possess. A daughter belongs to her father, a wife to her husband. A woman's own desires present obstacles for men and are best ignored.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“But it did seem that the thing we are most proud of and the thing we are most ashamed of are but the front and back of the same coin.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“For a nymphomaniac like myself, I suppose there could be no job more suitable than prostitution; it is my God-given destiny. No matter how violent a man might be, or how ugly, at the moment we're in the act I cannot help but love him. And what's more I'll grant his every wish, no matter how shameful. In fact, the more twisted my partner is, the more attracted I will be to him, because my ability to meet my lover's demands is the one way I can feel alive.
That is my virtue. It is also my biggest flaw. I can't deny a man. I'm like a vagina incarnate—female essence embodied. If I ever were to deny a man, I would stop being me.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“As a child I first became aware that my existence had a purpose when I realized men lusted after me. And that's why I will lust forever after men. Before I even began to worry about homework or any of those school things, I began having secret liaisons with men. And it is men who give me the proof I need now to feel I'm alive.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Was it my lot in life to stand forever on heaven's shores watching the glittering swirl of celestial bodies on the other side?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“And then there was her face: her white skin, her brown eyes, and her expression, so soft and beautiful; she looked as though she were constantly getting ready to ask a question. Even an immaculately crafted doll could not have been as lovely.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Here was a man who wanted what no one had wanted before: he wanted to get to know the inner workings of the doll-like woman who was me. Karl wasn't interested in me; neither was Johnson. But Kijima's father liked me for who I was. The realization left me feeling numb. I was touched. But being touched is not the same as feeling desire. And I didn't exist without desire. If I didn't exist, then what?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“I suspect there are lots of women who want to become prostitutes. Some see themselves as valued commodities and figure they ought to sell while the price is high. Others feel that sex has no intrinsic meaning in and of itself but allows individuals to feel the reality of their own bodies. A few women despise their existence and the insignificance of their meager lives and want to affirm themselves by controlling sex much as a man would. Then there are those who are actuated by violent, self-destructive behavior. And finally we have those want to offer comfort. I suppose there are any number of women who find the meaning of their existence in similar ways.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Kazue's journals depict an absolutely sublime struggle, the struggle between an individual and the rest of the world. Kazue lost the battle, ended up completely alone, and died hungry for some measure of kindness from another person. Don't you think it's a sad story?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“My lascivious blood leaves me no choice but to lust for men. No matter how common I become, how ugly, how old, as long as there is life in my body I will go on wanting men. That's just my fate. Even if men are no longer amazed when they see me, even if they no longer desire me, even if they belittle me, I have to sleep with them. No, I want to sleep with them. It's the retribution for a divinity that no one can sustain forever. I suppose you could say my 'power' was little more than sin.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“I got up on time this morning, boarded the train, changed to the subway, and worked like an aggressive career woman in one of the biggest corporations around. At night I transformed into a prostitute sought out by men. Suddenly I remembered the argument I had had earlier with Arai and stopped short. I'm a company employee day and night. Or is it that I'm a prostitute night and day? Which is it? Which one is me?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“You see, natural beauty creates such excitement that the existence of the weight is negated. And once it is negated, the heavier it is to bear.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Mitsuru and Yuriko and Kazue didn’t mutate; they simply decayed. A biology professor certainly ought to be able to recognize the signs of fermentation and decay. Isn’t he the one who taught us all about these processes in organisms? In order to induce the process of decay, water is necessary. I think that, in the case of women, men are the water.”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Karl wasn’t interested in me; neither was Johnson. But Kijima’s father liked me for who I was. The realization left me feeling numb. I was touched. But being touched is not the same as feeling desire. And I didn’t exist without desire. If I didn’t exist, then what?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“..Bu yolu seçti, çünkü insan alemini yöneten kurallar hakkında daha fazla bilgi edinmek istiyordu. İnsanların nasıl böylesine karanlık ve bencil tutkular besleyebileceğini anlamak istiyordu.Bütün insanlar ölür. Ama ölümden sonra onlara ne olur? Ruhun bir bedenden diğerine geçmesi mümkün mü?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

“Nihai analizde, dine bulaşan insanlar yalnızca kendi kişisel mutluluklarının peşinde gibidir. Yanılıyor muyum?”
― Natsuo Kirino, quote from Grotesque

About the author

Popular quotes

“How do we stop them?” Edilio asked. He raised his head, and Sam saw the distress on his face. “How do you think we stop them? When your fifteenth birthday rolls around, the easy thing is to take the poof. You gotta fight to resist it. We know that. So how are we going to tell kids this isn’t real, this Orsay thing?”
“We just tell them,” Astrid said.
“But we don’t know if it’s real or not,” Edilio argued.
Astrid shrugged. She stared at nothing and kept her features very still. “We tell them it’s all fake. Kids hate this place, but they don’t want to die.”
“How do we tell them if we don’t know?” Edilio seemed genuinely puzzled.
Howard laughed. “Deely-O, Deely-O, you are such a doof sometimes.” He put his feet down and leaned toward Edilio as if sharing a secret with him. “She means: We lie. Astrid means that we lie to everyone and tell them we do know for sure.”
Edilio stared at Astrid like he was expecting her to deny it.
“It’s for people’s own good,” Astrid said in a low voice, still looking at nothing.
“You know what’s funny?” Howard said, grinning. “I was pretty sure we were coming to this meeting so Astrid could rank on Sam for not telling us the whole truth. And now, it turns out we’re really here so Astrid can talk us all into becoming liars.”
― Michael Grant, quote from Lies

“Three generations of women out on the front porch, four counting little Emily, trying to put words around a past and a future that could never be explained.”
― Lalita Tademy, quote from Cane River

“Lila Bard lived by a simple rule: if a thing was worth having, it was worth taking.”
― V.E. Schwab, quote from A Darker Shade of Magic

“Better to cry wolf over and over than never to cry wolf at all.”
― Pseudonymous Bosch, quote from The Name of This Book Is Secret

“How do you deal with it? How do you keep from falling apart? That—What happened to them is horrible. How can a person do that to another?” Rose took a slow breath. “You cry, you get angry, then you do something about it.” I watched her leave, the clack of her quick heels sounding sharp before the door closed. Yeah. I can do that.”
― Kim Harrison, quote from The Good, the Bad, and the Undead

Interesting books

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.