Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Murasaki Shikibu (Japanese Diarist, Novelist)

Murasaki Shikibu (c.978–c.1014) was a Japanese courtier, diarist, and poet. She is revered as Japan’s most celebrated writer. Her Tale of Genji (c.1010; Genji Monogatari) is considered the world’s oldest complete novel.

Little is certain about Murasaki Shikibu; the name itself is a nom de plume. Scholars believe she lived in the province on the Japan Sea, where her father was the governor. She became a lady-in-waiting to Empress Akiko when she started writing Genji. She wrote the novel in her own hand; court scribes copied it along.

Drawing on the tradition of Chinese historical writing and Chinese and Japanese lyrical poetry, Murasaki produced something new and unique—a prose romance filled with believable characters in real situations. The Tale of Genji is a massive work of 1,000 pages that covers 75 years in the careers of the nobleman Genji and his two offspring.

The Tale of Genji begins with Genji as a near-perfect hero—brains, looks, charm, artistic talent, and the love of well-born ladies—and ends it as a complex human blend of positive and negative attributes. The Tale of Genji has been called the world’s first novel for its psychologically compelling portrayal of the characters and the complex network of relationships in which they are embroiled.

Murasaki briefly wrote a diary (from late 1008 to early 1010) about her time at court, known as The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu Nikki.) She wrote as well a collection numerous poems, subsequently published as The Poetic Collection of Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu shū.)

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Murasaki Shikibu

Nothing can be well learned that is not agreeable to one’s natural taste.
Murasaki Shikibu

No art or learning is to be pursued halfheartedly…and any art worth learning will certainly reward more or less generously the effort made to study it.
Murasaki Shikibu

Foolish indeed are those who trust to fortune.
Murasaki Shikibu
Topics: Luck

There is much to be said for cherry blossoms, but they seem so flighty. They are so quick to run off and leave you. And then just when your regrets are the strongest the wisteria comes into bloom, and it blooms on into the summer. There is nothing quite like it. Even the color is somehow companionable and inviting.
Murasaki Shikibu

How much the more in judging of the human heart should we distrust all fashionable airs and graces, all tricks and smartness, learnt only to please the outward gaze
Murasaki Shikibu

One ought not to be unkind to a woman merely on account of her plainness, any more than one had a right to take liberties with her merely because she was handsome
Murasaki Shikibu

in the mountains the cherry trees were in full bloom, and the farther he went, the lovelier the veils of mist became, until for him, whose rank so restricted travel that all this was new, the landscape became a source of wonder.
Murasaki Shikibu

The memories of long love gather like drifting snow, poignant as the mandarin ducks who float side by side in sleep.
Murasaki Shikibu

It is so rare to find someone of true understanding; for the most part they judge purely by their own standards and ignore everyone else. So all they see of me is a facade. There are times when I am forced to sit with them and on such occasions I simply ignore their petty criticisms, not because I am particularly shy but because I consider it pointless. As a result, they now look down upon me as a dullard.
Murasaki Shikibu

People who have become so precious that they go out of their way to try and be sensitive in the most unpromising situations, trying to capture every moment of interest, are bound to look ridiculous and superficial.
Murasaki Shikibu

Anything whatsoever may become the subject of a novel, provided only that it happens in this mundane life and not in some fairyland beyond our human ken.
Murasaki Shikibu

There is a time for everything; and all people, but more especially women, should be constantly careful to watch circumstances, and not to air their accomplishments at a time when nobody cares for them. They should practise a sparing economy in displaying their learning and eloquence, and should even, if circumstances require, plead ignorance on subjects with which they are familiar.
Murasaki Shikibu

It is useless to talk with those who do not understand one and troublesome to talk with those who criticize from a feeling of superiority. Especially one-sided persons are troublesome. Few are accomplished in many arts and most cling narrowly to their own opinion.
Murasaki Shikibu

Those who linger on and those all too swiftly gone live as dewdrops, all, and it is a foolish thing to set one’s heart on their world.
Murasaki Shikibu

Beauty without colour seems somehow to belong to another world.
Murasaki Shikibu

Wondering Whom to Read Next?

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *