Five Beautiful Quotes From Kenzaburō Ōe
Many of Kenzaburō Ōe’s quotes are a reflection of his personal tragedies and the terrible things he experienced in his life. Kenzaburō Ōe is therefore one of the most important and profound writers of the twentieth century.
Kenzaburō Ōe was born in a small village in Japan. He came from a very simple family. However, his desires to make something of his life took him to Tokyo, where he obtained his degrees in philosophy and literature.
He experienced quite a bit of culture shock in Tokyo because the village he came from was so different from this huge city. That culture shock inspired him to start writing.
Kenzaburō Ōe has a humanistic soul and is very witty and persuasive. His quotes are short but sweet. Here are some of the most beautiful best known!
The most beautiful quotes from Kenzaburō Ōe
1. Kenzaburō about fear
Kenzaburō Ōe writes a lot about fear. According to him, we should not succumb to fear, but reason it. This great writer, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994, also believes in our ability as humans to free ourselves from fear.
One of Kenzaburō Ōe’s quotes captures this idea perfectly. This quote reads: “To dominate fear, you must isolate it. To do that, you have to define exactly what you are afraid of. This is excellent advice. Identifying what you fear is the first step to overcoming it.
2. The Two Faces of the World
Another quote from Kenzaburō Ōe reads: “If I want to look at the world with both eyes, I see two worlds, one superimposed on the other. The first is light and bright, surprisingly defined. The other is imprecise and subtly overshadowed.”
This quote is about the ambiguity of existence, including human existence. It reflects on the duality that is present in us: the good and the evil, the light and the darkness, the great and the not so great. We are constantly confronted with this paradox throughout our lives.
3. The Good Writer
Kenzaburō Ōe also writes a lot about writing. According to Kenzaburō, writing is not just a vocation, but a position in the face of existence. It is at once a testimony as well as a kind of therapy and a cultural exercise.
He once said, “A good writer should never settle down.” He believes that one of the things that drives a person to write is instability. Otherwise there would in principle be no reason to propose other possible worlds in literature.
4. The Ghost of the Atomic Bomb
The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had a profound effect on Kenzaburō Ōe. Many of his works deal with this subject.
However, here is one of the most beautiful quotes about this: “The important lesson from the Hiroshima drama is dignity.” Here he tells of the iron will of his people to rebuild their nation after this terrible event.
5. The Act of Lying
Kenzaburō Ōe does not try to give moral lessons in his literature. He offers no advice or guidelines on how we should behave. Yet all his novels and essays are based on moral and ethical questions.
One of Kenzaburō Ōe’s quotes therefore reads: “If you lie to get out of trouble, do it in such a way that you don’t have to lie again when they find out the truth.”
As you can see, he doesn’t condemn lying, but simply points out that it’s not the best option. He assumes that sooner or later the truth will always surface, so he says you have to take that into account if you want to lie.
Kenzaburō Ōe also had a child with an intellectual disability. After his son was born, his life changed completely, as did his writing. Perhaps this is why reading his work can make you feel like an author who dreams of grasping the meaning of the impossible.
