[The art of the novel] does not simply consist in the author's telling a story about the adventures of some… — Murasaki Shikibu
[The art of the novel] does not simply consist in the author's telling a story about the adventures of some other person. On the contrary, it happens because the storyteller's own experience of men and things, whether for good or ill—not only what he has passed through himself, but even events which he has only witnessed or been told of—has moved him to an emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart.
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Think not that I have come in quest of common flowers; but rather to bemoan the loss of one whose scent has vanished from the air.
You that in far-off countries of the sky can dwell secure, look back upon me here; for I am weary of this frail world's decay.
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.
