“The death of the young alone is magnificent and luxurious. Because they spend their entire remaining life all at once.”
- 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
「若いやつの死だけが、豪勢で、贅沢なのさ。だって残りの一生を一どきに使っちゃうんだものな。」
English
“The death of the young alone is magnificent and luxurious. Because they spend their entire remaining life all at once.”
Explanation
In this quote, Mishima reflects on the intensity and finality of a young person’s death, portraying it as luxurious and magnificent because it represents the consumption of an entire life in a single, momentous event. The metaphor of spending one’s entire life all at once emphasizes the brevity of youth and the contrast between the potential of a young person’s future and the finality of their death. Mishima suggests that while youth is often associated with boundless possibilities, its sudden end brings a sense of dramatic intensity, as if the entire lifespan has been condensed into a single, powerful act.
This view contrasts with the gradualness of aging, where life is lived over many years, each day building upon the last. The luxury and magnificence Mishima mentions is perhaps a reflection of the tragic beauty inherent in the untouched potential of youth being abruptly cut short. The death of the young represents a waste of what could have been, yet it is also a moment that holds intensity, akin to a consuming fire that burns brightly and quickly.
In a modern context, this quote may resonate with the way society views youth and youthful tragedy, where the death of a young person often carries a weight of unfulfilled promise and loss of potential. Mishima’s words remind us that the death of the young is often perceived as tragic not only because of the loss itself but because it represents a wasted potential—a life that never had the chance to unfold. This perspective underscores the power of youth and the destruction of its promise, turning death into something larger than life—a final moment that contains within it the whole of what might have been.
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