Kōbō Abe Quotes

Do you shovel to survive, or survive to shovel?

Nothing is so awkward as a demonstration of humanity by the enemy.

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.

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.

One measure of a civilization, in fact, is the percentage of misfits in its society.

The future is forever a projection of the present.