The Pillow-Book of Sei Shōnagon

“In life there are two things which are dependable. The pleasures of the flesh and the pleasures of literature.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“Pleasing things: finding a large number of tales that one has not read before. Or acquiring the second volume of a tale whose first volume one has enjoyed. But often it is a disappointment.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him discusses all sorts of subjects at random as if he knew everything.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“To wash your hair, apply your makeup and put on clothes that are well-scented with incense. Even if you’re somewhere where no one special will see you, you still feel a heady sense of pleasure inside.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“185. It Is Getting So Dark I am the sort of person who approves of what others abhor and detests the things they like.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“How ever did I passthe time before I knew you?I think of that past timeas now I pass each passing dayin lonely sorrow, lacking you.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“71. -- A son-in-law who's praised by his wife's father. Likewise, a wife who's loved by her mother-in-law. A pair of silver tweezers that can actually pull out hairs properly.A retainer who doesn't speak ill of his master.A person who is without a single quirk. Someone who's superior in both appearance and character, and who's remained utterly blameless throughout his long dealings with the world.You never find an instance of two people living together who continue to be overawed by each other's excellence and always treat each other with scrupulous care and respect, so such a relationship is obviously a great rarity. Copying out a tale or a volume of poems without smearing any ink on the book you're copying from. If you're copying it from some beautiful bound book, you try to take immense care, but somehow you always manage to get ink on it.Two women, let alone a man and a woman, who vow themselves to each other forever, and actually manage to remain on good terms to the end.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“134. Letters are Commonplace Letters are commonplace enough, yet what splendid things they are! When someone is in a distant province and one is worried about him, and then a letter suddenly arrives, one feels as though one were seeing him face to face. Again, it is a great comfort to have expressed one's feelings in a letter even though one knows it cannot yet have arrived. If letters did not exist, what dark depressions would come over one! When one has been worrying about something and wants to tell a certain person about it, what a relief it is to put it all down in a letter! Still greater is one's joy when a reply arrives. At that moment a letter really seems like an elixir of life.””

— Sei Shōnagon

“Sometimes a person who is utterly devoid of charm will try to create a good impression by using very elegant language; yet he only succeeds in being ridiculous.””

— Sei Shōnagon