“God is humanity’s final excuse, and paradoxes may, perhaps, be the shortcut to God.”
- January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970
- Born in Japan
- Novelist, playwright, critic, political activist
- He became a representative figure of postwar Japanese literature, and was highly acclaimed both at home and abroad. He pursued his own unique aesthetic with themes of beauty and death, and ultimately committed seppuku at a Self-Defense Forces garrison. His life, which combined literature with action, continues to have a strong influence today.
Japanese
「神は人間の最後の言いのがれであり、逆説とは、もしかすると神への捷径だ」
English
“God is humanity’s final excuse, and paradoxes may, perhaps, be the shortcut to God.”
Explanation
In this quote, Mishima suggests that God is often used by humans as a final refuge or excuse to justify their actions, behaviors, or understanding of the world. When faced with incomprehensible suffering or existential dilemmas, people may turn to divine explanations or belief as a way to avoid confronting the full depth of their situation. Mishima implies that, in this sense, God becomes the ultimate excuse—a way for humans to avoid facing the unanswered questions of life or the lack of meaning in human existence. The second part of the quote, about paradoxes, suggests that the use of contradictory logic or unsolvable dilemmas may actually be a direct path to understanding God, or perhaps an indirect way to come to terms with the divine. Paradoxes defy conventional understanding, and in Mishima’s view, they may offer a shortcut to a deeper, spiritual insight into the nature of God or existence.
Mishima’s idea that God functions as a “last excuse” reflects his broader views on human nature and the search for meaning. He often explored how faith and religion were used to cope with the chaos and suffering of human life, and how people relied on divine explanations as a way to simplify or rationalize the complexities of existence. This dependence on God as a final explanation may reflect Mishima’s cynicism about human beings’ tendency to seek easy answers, particularly when confronted with the limits of reason or the unanswerable nature of existence. The idea that paradoxes might lead to God emphasizes his belief in the mysteriousness of the divine, and how true spiritual understanding may be found not through simple, logical thinking, but through embracing contradictions and complexities that elude conventional understanding.
In a modern context, this quote resonates with the philosophical and theological debates about the nature of faith, meaning, and suffering. The idea that God serves as a final refuge or excuse is relevant in a world where spiritual beliefs can sometimes be used to avoid difficult questions or moral responsibility. Mishima’s suggestion that paradoxes might offer a shortcut to divine understanding echoes modern ideas in existential philosophy and theology, where faith is often intertwined with ambiguity and contradiction rather than simple answers. Today, his reflection challenges us to consider how religion and spirituality are shaped by both rational inquiry and the acceptance of paradoxes, and how faith can be a way of navigating the complexities of life rather than offering easy answers to life’s most profound questions.
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