It goes on, terrifyingly repetitive. One could not do without repetition in life, like the beating of the heart, but it was also true that the beatin… - Kōbō Abe

He wanted to believe that his own lack of movement had stopped all movement in the world, the way a hibernating frog abolishes winter.

When a castaway collapses from hunger and thirst it is fear of physical want rather than a real want, they say. Defeat begins with the fear that one has lost.

Rarely will you meet anyone so jealous as a teacher. Year after year students tumble along like the waters of a river. They flow away, and only the teacher is left behind, like some deeply buried rock at the bottom of the current. Although he may tell others of his hopes, he doesn't dream of them himself. He thinks of himself as worthless and either falls into masochistic loneliness or, failing that, ultimately becomes suspicious and pious, forever denouncing the eccentricities of others. He longs so much for freedom and action that he can only hate people.