Natsume Soseki 夏目漱石

1905

I am a cat. As yet I have no name.

吾輩は猫である。名前はまだ無い。

I Am a Cat (Wagahai wa neko de aru), the first sentence

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1906

Work by reason alone and you grow sharp corners. Pole along the stream of feeling and you are swept away. Insist on your own will and you are cramped. Either way, the human world is a hard place to live.

智に働けば角が立つ。情に棹させば流される。意地を通せば窮屈だ。とかくに人の世は住みにくい。

The novel Kusamakura (The Grass Pillow), the opening

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1906 · He goes on to explain: a classmate had jeered that for all his big talk he would never dare jump from there

Thanks to a recklessness inherited from my parents, I have been losing out ever since I was a child. In primary school I once jumped from the second floor of the school and could not stand up straight for a week.

親譲りの無鉄砲で小供の時から損ばかりしている。小学校に居る時分学校の二階から飛び降りて一週間ほど腰を抜かした事がある。

Botchan, the opening

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1906

Even people who look carefree give off a sad sound somewhere, if you knock on the bottom of their hearts.

呑気と見える人々も、心の底を叩いて見ると、どこか悲しい音がする。

I Am a Cat (Wagahai wa neko de aru), chapter 11

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1914 · Words the young K throws at his friend

Anyone without the will to better himself in spirit is a fool.

精神的に向上心のないものは馬鹿だ

Kokoro

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