Natsuo Kirino

Brains and talent will never stand up against a girl who is clearly physically attractive.

all of them had the ability to interact with others: friends, lovers, someone to whom they could open their hearts, someone with whom they could share conversation, someone they longed to see once work was done. They had people outside the workplace who made them feel happy.

The life I was living was no different from that of a middle-aged man. I went to work and then I went home.

Less than average. Less than the fiftieth percentile on a standard scale. No one would want me. The thought made me go nearly crazy. How horrible to be less than average.

When you had children, Masako believed, you couldn't just cut them off if things didn't go as planned.

his was a different kind of spiritual discipline. Not God but his own will-power would give him the strength, the self-control to reach his goal.

how quickly the money had made her, too, forget her scruples.

Wet laundry stayed wet; his spirits remained damp.

'A beautiful person has a gift, just like a writer or a painter. It's not something that's given to everybody; it's a special favour. But writers and painters have to work to develop their gifts, and so do you. That's your duty. In a sense, you're a kind of artist yourself, at least that's the way I look at it. But at the moment, you're neglecting your duty.'

she was in the process of reassembling a self she'd thrown out long ago.