Otsuichi > Quotes

“The more one loves, the heavier the meaning of death becomes, and the deeper the sense of loss. Love and death are not different things, they are the front and back of the same thing.”
― Otsuichi, Zoo

“There are two kinds of humans: those who kill and those who are killed.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“My relationship with him was defined by these complex emotions, this mixture of gratitude and resentment.”
― Otsuichi, Zoo

“Her lack of outward expression was similar to the way a thermos is never hot on the outside: No matter what was going on inside, it never affected the surface.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“Love and death are not different things, they are the front and back of the same thing”
― Otsuichi, Zoo

“Things that were merciless and cruel always captivated me. The conversations my classmates enjoyed and the warm words I exchanged with my family never really resonated with me. They were just static, like a radio that wasn't tuned properly.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“When I can't sleep, I always wrap something around my neck and close my eyes and imagine myself being strangled to death. Then I can fall asleep--it feels like sinking deep underwater”
― Otsuichi

“Strange combination, isn't it--gratitude and resentment? But this is the way I think. Actually, I think everybody thinks that way. Even the children of the humans who died long ago, I think they lived their lives holding similar contradictory thoughts about their parents. They were raised to learn about love and death, and they lived out their lives passing from the sunny spots to the shady spots of this world.”
― Otsuichi, Zoo

“The more one loves, the heavier the meaning of death becomes, and the deeper the sense of loss.”
― Otsuichi, ZOO〈２〉

“I couldn't believe that the conversations my family had or the friendly attitudes of the people I knew were genuine. I was certain there had to be a script somewhere – and once, when I was very young, I searched the house for it. I wanted to read the same words everyone else was saying. But there was no script. The only thing that ever felt real to me was death.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“God cannot be drawn or sculpted. The moment it is drawn, it is no longer God; the moment it is sculpted, God becomes a fake. The moment it is expressed, its divinity peels away and recedes from its true nature.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“Tobacco kills a lot of people, but cigarette vending machines are killing that woman by stealing her job.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“The reason I wanted her hands was because she had those beautiful scars, from when she had tried to kill herself.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“At the moment of death, all connections dying people have with the world around them are severed. Everything that bound them to those they loved, those they cared about, vanishes. They will never again see the sun, feel the wind, sense darkness or silence. Joy, grief, happiness, despair – they lose all connection to those things.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“Right, let's go rope shopping. You should buy some rope or cord yourself; it might come in handy. You might need it when you kill yourself.”
― Otsuichi

“There are people who kill, and people who get killed.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“I enjoyed watching people carry out unusual crimes.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“This is your grave."

"Grave? You've got to be kidding. I'm still alive."

"Burying dead people isn't as much fun," Saeki said, feeling this was extremely obvious.”
― Otsuichi

“Human beings are liars. I knew that. Which is why I sought the face in death. The face with no forced smile, no performance, no deliberately composed expression.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“We were cruel, reptilian high school kids.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“The killer had stepped over the line of ordinary life to destroy people physically, trampling their identity and dignity. Like inside a nightmare, we could not look away.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“Just as a vampire has no choice but to drink human blood, I have no choice but to kill people. My fate was already decided the moment I was born. I wasn’t abused by my parents and scarred mentally. I have no ancestors that were murderers. I was raised in a very ordinary household. But whereas ordinary children play alone with imaginary friends and pets, I spent my time staring at imaginary corpse.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“I thought about my death. It was not just a matter of stopping. It would be a parting from all there was in this world, even a parting from myself. And this would still be true no matter how much I loved something. This is what made death so terribly sad.”
― Otsuichi, Zoo

“What does the kidnapper do with those things?"
"Those things?"
"You know, the stinky things with four legs that make a lot of noise."

Did she mean the dogs?”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“It seemed self-evident that hands were the essence of humanity. That was why there were palm readers; palm readers said the lines on a person’s palms allowed them to determine an individual’s personality. Hands were mirror that reflected the person’s past and future.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“Why? That one word was all I had to ask, but it was too late now. Why has I not worked up the courage to ask her while she was still alive? I might have regretted the answer I'd gotten, but it would have been better than this.

But my sister had lost the chance to speak forever. I was stuck with my question, and it would be with me every time I thought of her.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“By understanding the value system the world preferred, remembering and feigning it, I was able to convince others that I was free of problems. I simply had to participate enthusiastically in the boring conversations my classmates were having.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“I spent nine years trying not to have any expressions, trying to be my sister. Now I can't smile, not even if I want to.”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“Will you teach me how to smile like that?”
― Otsuichi, Goth

“I want to have her hands..!
Morino's hands...”
― Otsuichi, Goth