Murasaki Shikibu — "The world is a floating dream—why cling to it?"

"It is useless to talk with those who do not understand one and troublesome to talk with those who criticize from a feeling of superiority. Especially one-sided persons are troublesome. Few are accompl…"

"Foolish indeed are those who trust to fortune."

"Real things in the darkness seem no realer than dreams."

"People who do not get into scrapes are a great deal less interesting than those who do."

"Well, we never expected this!' they all say. 'No one liked her. They all said she was pretentious, awkward, difficult to approach, prickly, too fond of her tales, haughty, prone to versifying, disdain…"