“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
Natsuo Kirino
Born place: in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Born date October 7, 1951
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“the whole problem of discovering what was the matter, and figuring out what you have to do to fix it–that was interesting to me, like a puzzle”
― Richard Feynman, quote from Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
“You seem to know a hell of a lot about everything, you little foreign cock duck.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from El asesinato de Roger Ackroyd
“A person who had no one would be well advised to cobble together some passable ghost. Breathe it into being and coax it along with words of love. Offer it each phantom crumb and shield it from harm with your body. As for me my only hope is for eternal nothingness and I hope it with all my heart.”
― Peter Ackroyd, quote from The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde
“We deserve some respect. You deserve some respect. You are important to other people, as much as to yourself. You have some vital role to play in the unfolding destiny of the world. You are, therefore, morally obliged to take care of yourself. You should take care of, help and be good to yourself the same way you would take care of, help and be good to someone you loved and valued. You may therefore have to conduct yourself habitually in a manner that allows you some respect for your own Being—and fair enough. But every person is deeply flawed. Everyone falls short of the glory of God. If that stark fact meant, however, that we had no responsibility to care, for ourselves as much as others, everyone would be brutally punished all the time. That would not be good. That would make the shortcomings of the world, which can make everyone who thinks honestly question the very propriety of the world, worse in every way. That simply cannot be the proper path forward.”
― Jordan B. Peterson, quote from 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
“More than anything, the pictures had altered my vision of George. The graceful young man with long dark hair and beautiful manners had spawned a double, and it was this second man, the one I didn't know, who fascinated me.”
― Siri Hustvedt, quote from The Blindfold
Bone Gap
The Fever
Demons in Disguise
Little Star
Thor's Serpents
The Complete Short S...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.
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