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The destination of the soul: this is what I, led on by Nils Holgersson, came to seek in the literature of Western Europe.

— Kenzaburō Ōe

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More quotes by Kenzaburō Ōe

I cannot talk about myself otherwise than by saying "Japan, the Ambiguous, and Myself".

Japan, The Ambiguous, and Myself (1994)

I don’t think young people need to see the face of the deceased.

Shizuka-na seikatsu (A Quiet Life) (1990)

The ideal teacher student relationship exists when the student is better than the teacher.

Shizuka-na seikatsu (A Quiet Life) (1990)

To repeat the error by exhibiting, through the construction of nuclear reactors, the same disrespect for human life is the worst possible betrayal of the memory of Hiroshima’s victims.

Most of these poems are concerned with the linguistic impossibility of telling truth.

Japan, The Ambiguous, and Myself (1994)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

Albert Pike Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871)

There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Kenzaburō Ōe (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.