Soseki Natsume

A joke carried too far

His curt and cold ways were not designed to express his dislike of me, but they were meant rather as a warning to me that I would not want him as a friend. It was because he despised himself that he refused to accept openheartedly the intimacy of others. I feel great pity for him

“Why is it, Sensei, that you are not as interested in books as you once were?”

“There is no particular reason . . . Well, perhaps it is because I have decided that no matter how many books I may read, I shall never be a very much better man than I am now. And . . .”

“And?”

“This is not very important, but to tell you the truth, I used to consider it a disgrace to be found ignorant by other people. But now, I find that I am not ashamed of knowing less than others, and I am less inclined to force myself to read books. In short, I have grown old and decrepit.”