To see human beings in agony, to see them covered in blood and to hear their death groans, makes people humble. It makes their spirits delicate, bright, peaceful. It's never at such times that we become cruel or bloodthirsty. No, it's on a beautiful spring afternoon like this that people suddenly become cruel. It's at a moment like this, don't you think, while one's vaguely watching the sun as it peeps through the leaves of the trees above a well-mown lawn? Every possible nightmare in the world, every possible nightmare in history, has come into being like this.
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About Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima was a 20th-century Japanese author and failed coup leader. Kimitake Hiraoka, known by his pen name Yukio Mishima, was a Japanese writer, playwright, actor, martial artist, model, and the leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated in his seppuku. Read more on Wikipedia →