There is a tendency among men as well as women ... so soon as they have acquired a little knowledge of some kind, to want to display it to the best advantage. Murasaki Shikibu More Quotes by Murasaki Shikibu More Quotes From Murasaki Shikibu Real things in the darkness seem no realer than dreams. Murasaki Shikibu real dark dream There is more here than meets the eye. Murasaki Shikibu eye appearance 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 rewards effort art Beauty without colour seems somehow to belong to another world. Murasaki Shikibu crayon colour world The memories of long love gather like drifting snow, poignant as the mandarin ducks who float side by side in sleep. Murasaki Shikibu first-love sleep memories 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 useless feelings art It is in general the unexplored that attracts us. Murasaki Shikibu unexplored adventure 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 handsome accounts liberty Who has told you that the fruit belies the flower? For the fruit you have not tasted, and the flower you know but by report. Murasaki Shikibu reports fruit flower How strange a thing is the heart of man! Murasaki Shikibu strange heart men farewell' is a monster among words, and never yet sounded kindly in any ear. Murasaki Shikibu farewell ears monsters A night of endless dreams, inconsequent and wild, is this my life; none more worth telling than the rest. Murasaki Shikibu endless dream night I have a theory of my own about what the art of the novel is, and how it came into being....It happens because the storyteller's own experience...has moved him to an emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart. Murasaki Shikibu passionate writing art People who do not get into scrapes are a great deal less interesting than those who do. Murasaki Shikibu deals people interesting Though the body moves, the soul may stay behind. Murasaki Shikibu body soul moving There are as many sorts of women as there are women. Murasaki Shikibu In few people is discretion stronger than the desire to tell a good story. Murasaki Shikibu gossip truth people Old age is a disease from which there is no recovery but the old nun's recent attack had certainly been brought on chiefly by the fatigue of so much travelling. Murasaki Shikibu recovery age travel Ceaseless as the interminable voices of the bell-cricket, all night till dawn my tears flow. Murasaki Shikibu voice tears night Autumn is no time to lie alone Murasaki Shikibu autumn lying