“ They say the level of civilization is proportionate to the degree of cleanliness of the skin. Assuming that man has a soul, it must, in all likelihood, be housed in the skin. Kōbō Abe
“ There are apparently two hypotheses about jealousy: that it is a product of civilization and that it is a basic instinct of animals. Kōbō Abe
“ When he saw the vista of the street reflected in the mirror in which he was looking, he was terror stricken. He had the impression that the whole view had turned into eyes that reproached him. Kōbō Abe
“ The dial of the clock wears out unevenly; Most worn Is the area round eight. As it is stared at with abrasive glancesunfailingly twice a day, It is weathered away. On the other side The area at two Is… Kōbō Abe
“ There wasn't a single item of importance [in the newspaper]. A tower of illusion, all of it, made of illusory bricks and full of holes. If life were made up only of imporant things, it really would be… Kōbō Abe
“ If animal history has been a history of evolution, then the history of mankind is one of retrogression. Hooray for monsters! Monsters are the great embodiments of the weak. Kōbō Abe
“ Something whose connection with human experience we cannot grasp is bound to be frightening. Kōbō Abe
“ And again, the dark street. The dark, dark street. The women out shopping for the evening meal of course, and baby carriage and the silver bicycle were already painted out by the darkness; most of the… Kōbō Abe
“ The world itself, like the mask, began to seem difficult to believe in, and I was stricken with an unutterable sense of loneliness. Kōbō Abe
“ Loneliness—since I was trying to escape it—was hell; and yet for the hermit who seeks it, it is apparently happiness. Kōbō Abe
“ I want to spy on all sorts of places, and the box is a portable hole that occurred to me under the circumstances, it being impossible to punch holes throughout the world. Kōbō Abe
“ These days only a guerrilla or a box man would want to cover up his identity to the extent of refusing the convenience of instalment buying. But I am that box man. A representative of anti-instalmenti… Kōbō Abe
“ If I were just in trousers, somehow I could go out into the world. It would make no difference whether I was naked from the waist up and my feet bare just as long as I had trousers on. Otherwise if yo… Kōbō Abe
“ Just as trees bear their fruit before winter, just as bamboo grass produces its seeds just before it withers, sex is simply a struggle with death on the human level. Kōbō Abe
